The Ontario licensing exams are open-book — but “open-book” means something very specific, and the LSO enforces its Rules and Protocol strictly. Every sitting, candidates lose time (or worse, have items confiscated) over rules they could have learned in five minutes. Here are those five minutes.
The core principle: everything must live inside the LSO materials
Your exam-day reference is your printed set of the LSO study materials. Within that set, the normal tools of engagement are permitted and expected: highlighting, underlining, margin notes, tabs, and flags. Write in them aggressively — that is what they are for.
What you cannot do is bring separate documents: your own typed summaries, standalone notes, loose pages, or anything that is effectively a second book. The line the rules draw is between annotating the materials (fine) and supplementing them with your own documents (not fine). Because the LSO updates and republishes the Rules and Protocol, read the current version in LSO Connects before each sitting — especially if you plan to bring anything unusual, like a self-made index bound separately.
No electronics. None. This changes your whole strategy.
Phones, laptops, tablets, and smartwatches are not permitted at your seat. There is no PDF search in the exam room — no Ctrl+F, no keyword search, no tablet copy of the materials. Your retrieval system is paper: an index, tabs, and the familiarity you built doing practice exams. Candidates who prepare on screens and practise on screens sometimes arrive psychologically dependent on search; make sure at least your final three practice exams are done entirely on paper.
The rest of your exam-day kit
- Government-issued photo ID and your exam confirmation details from LSO Connects.
- Pens, pencils, highlighters — packed the way the current Rules and Protocol require (in past sittings, clear bags were mandated for personal supplies).
- Water and a snack for the break, subject to the venue rules.
- A watch only if permitted — many venues prohibit wristwatches entirely; rely on the room clock unless the current rules say otherwise.
- Layers. Convention-centre exam halls have exactly two temperatures: too cold and too warm.
A word about the candidate agreement
All candidates sign a Candidate Agreement prohibiting copying, sharing, or disclosing exam content. The LSO treats exam security seriously — after the 2021 question-leak incident it rescheduled sittings and moved exams back in person — and the consequences of breaching the agreement can follow you into your licensing application. Discuss strategy and materials with friends all you want; do not traffic in recalled questions.