What it costs, and who else might pay for it.

Before you decide you cannot afford this, read the second half. The single commonest reason somebody tells us a course is out of reach is that they are assuming they have to fund it themselves out of this month's money, and for a lot of people that is not the case.

What we charge

The exam seat fee tracks the US dollar, because NABCEP charges us in US dollars. If the rate moves far enough to change it we tell you before you pay. The full price page →

Route one: your employer

The most-overlooked and the easiest. Many employers in this sector will pay for a credential that makes a worker more useful, and most have never been asked. We invoice companies directly — say so when you enquire and we will bill the business rather than you. A private cohort on your employer's dates is also available if there are several of you, and we will tell you which modules your crew can skip.

Route two: the tuition tax credit

Canada's tuition tax credit has no minimum programme length — the conditions are about age, the amount of the fees and the institution's status, not about how many weeks a course runs. There is also the Canada Training Credit, which is refundable and accumulates an annual amount up to a lifetime limit for eligible people.

Both depend on the provider being certified for the purpose by the responsible federal department. We are working through that certification now, and this page will say plainly when it is granted rather than implying it already is. When it is, students will be able to claim — and the honest wording will always be "may be eligible", because the amount depends on your own accumulated limit, not on anything we can see. Your own tax advice should come from an accountant and not from a training provider.

Route three: Windmill Microlending, if you are a newcomer to Canada

This is the one that changes the arithmetic most and the one fewest people have heard of. Windmill Microlending lends newcomers to Canada up to $15,000 for training, exams and licensing, at a fixed rate, and has supported over 15,000 people. A $1,575 Fast-Track plus a seat sits inside that comfortably.

If you are an internationally-trained electrician or engineer, this is worth ten minutes of your evening. It is not us lending you anything and we get nothing from mentioning it — it is a charitable lender and we have no relationship with them. We mention it because it removes the obstacle, and because the group it serves is exactly the group for whom NABCEP PV Associate is the one PV credential actually available. Why that is →

What we will not tell you

A salary figure or a payback period on your training. We do not know what you will earn, it varies by province and employer and whether you hold a trade certificate, and a training provider quoting you a return on a course is quoting you a number it invented. Job Bank publishes Canadian wage data by region and occupation; look there.

And the honest market note: Canada installed only 57 MW of utility-scale solar in 2025 against a CanREA forecast of 17 to 26 GW over the coming decade. You would be credentialing ahead of a pipeline. The credential is North American and travels, which is part of its value.

Cheapest useful thing on this site

$210, the question bank — if you already work in solar and the gap is examination technique rather than knowledge. We would rather sell you that than a $1,575 course you did not need.

Common questions