TICO Education Standards

Study Manual

The Study Manual is available, free of charge, on both the CITC and TICO websites. The format is PDF. An Adobe program download has been provided for those who require it to access the PDF. The Study Manual is formatted to be printed back-to-back for those who have printers with two-sided printing capability.

Note: Candidates should not sit the TICO Education Standard exam(s) without prior study of the Manual.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario recently updated the Study Manual. Exams written on or before January 15, 2012 will be based on the old version of the Study Manual. Exams that will be written on or after January 23, 2012 will be based on the new version of the Study Manual. Please note that there is new and revised information in the new version of the Study Manual. Therefore, be sure to download and study the applicable version of the Study Manual based on when you are writing the exam.

The Study Manual is organized into two sections that correspond to the two levels of the program.

Exam candidates are urged to read all nine modules of the Study Manual, however, only Modules 1-5 are required reading for the Travel Counsellor Exam. Modules 6-9 relate specifically to the Supervisor/Manager Exam requirement.

Each module in the Study Manual includes

• Outcomes (what information you will acquire)
• Section-by-section explanations of the Travel Industry Act, 2002 and Ontario Regulation 26/05 as they pertain to that Module
• A short self-test quiz with an answer key

The first section, comprising Modules 1-5, contains information that specifically relates to travel counsellors in the Province of Ontario. Every person who is working for a retail travel agency and is selling travel services or providing travel advice to the public must write the Travel Counsellor Exam based on the first five modules of the Study Manual. This includes supervisor/managers.

• At the back of the Manual, there is a sample Travel Counsellor Exam to help candidates prepare for the actual Travel Counsellor exam. The answers may be found on the CITC website at www.citc.ca/en/sampleexam

The second level of the program is for supervisors and managers, comprising Modules 6-9 in the Study Manual.  Every travel agency is required to name a Supervisor/Manager on their application for registration or renewal.  This individual is the Supervisor/Manager “on record” with TICO.  The Supervisor/Manager on record with TICO as of June 30th, 2009 will be “grandfathered” and will not be required to take the Supervisor/Manager Exam by July 1, 2009.  An individual that has not been approved as a Supervisor/Manager by TICO and who wishes to act as the Supervisor/Manager on record with TICO on or after July 1, 2009, must write and pass the Supervisor/Manager Exam. 

Please note that all supervisors and managers or other individuals who may wish to advance in the industry in the future are welcome and encouraged to take the exam.   A combination exam is available for those wishing to write both the Travel Counsellor and the Supervisor/Manager exams at the same time.