Constable Selection System

1.  What is the process to begin the certificate as a new applicant? 

When you purchase the Full Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) Certificate package, you will be provided with a series of emails containing several attachments that will outline instructions for your next steps to receive your certificate. After submitting your signed Consent and Release form via email as required in Part A, you can expect to receive another email with a registration link to complete the online Sigma Survey for Police Officers assessment and personality assessment. These assessments have no pass/fail components and are designed to be accessible to all applicants. You have six months to write the online assessments from the purchase date according to your schedule, whenever is convenient to you. 

We include study material in the Part B and Part C email package to help you prepare for what to expect on the assessments. This package can also be downloaded for free from our website, under “Constable Selection System & Forms” under the menu. After we receive your assessment results, we will process your certificate and you can expect to receive it within one to two weeks via email. After you receive your certificate, you may submit it along with your application (including your completed medical package and fitness log) to the police service(s) you wish to apply to. Please inquire with the police service(s) you apply to if they have any further fitness testing later in the hiring process.

2.  Is my Applicant Testing Services (ATS) Certificate of Results considered valid? 

So long as your PATI and BPAD components are consecutively valid, you are not required to purchase the OACP Certificate package and may continue to use your ATS Certificate of Results until one or both components expire. As part of our current process, the PREP is no longer required at the pre-screening stage. However, the PREP will be part of the hiring process further into recruitment. It is important to take your physical preparation seriously, therefore it begins at the pre-hiring stage through the completing of fitness logs. You will only be required to complete the fitness log as per the fitness log guide which can be downloaded for free on our website at: www.oacpcertificate.ca. This can be found in the “Constable Selection System and Forms” page. You will then submit it alongside your application to the service(s) you are interested in applying to. Please inquire with the police service(s) you apply to if they have any further fitness testing later in the hiring process. The written communication test is no longer required as part of the certificate as there is no relevant component that is tested with the new process. 

Please note that once either or both of your PATI/BPAD components expire, you will be required to purchase the full OACP Certificate package for $250 before tax, should you wish to maintain its validity. The medical components are still considered valid up until the marked expiry date on your ATS Certificate and can be used in place of our medical examination package when submitting your application to the police service(s) of your choice.

Applicants are eligible for re-testing the online assessments as part of their OACP Certificate 10 months after their certificate was issued to them. As a reminder, our medical examination package is valid for two years from the date they are signed by your health care practitioners. If you had the medical package completed last year, you are not required to complete it again this year. 

If you had completed and received the full OACP Certificate OR completed both Part B and Part C assessments through the OACP Equivalency package, please proceed to purchase the OACP Re-Testing Certificate package from our website. You will be granted both assessments to maintain the validity of your certificate. 

If you had completed only one assessment through the OACP Equivalency Certificate and one or more components are set to expire, please proceed to purchase the OACP Equivalency Certificate package and you will be granted the remaining assessments required to maintain the validity of your certificate based on your ATS Certificate and OACP Certificate.

As of January 1^st, 2021, the OACP Equivalency package is only extended to applicants who have previously completed the OACP Equivalency testing in 2020. Applicants who did not complete any testing with us in 2020, regardless of the status of your ATS components, are directed to purchase the full OACP Certificate package. 

Please note the medical components are still considered valid up until the marked expiry date on your ATS Certificate and can be used in place of our medical examination package when submitting your application to the police service(s) of your choice.

The Part B and C assessments are completed together in one sitting of 60-90 minutes. Please ensure you set aside an appropriate amount of time to complete this examination uninterrupted. The online assessments have no pass/fail component and are meant to be more approachable for new applicants. 

The Part B (SSPO) is broken down into two sections. Section A consists of 44 multiple choice questions which measure spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar. Section B consists of 30 multiple choice questions and is based on police problem-solving. The math questions have been all but removed and at most relate to travel and distance. You will have 35 minutes to complete all 74 questions. You should avoid blind guessing because there is a penalty for selecting incorrect answers. Please note if you are unsure about the answer to a question, you may leave it blank and return to it later time permitting. We also understand the time limit per section is quite short. However, this is the intention of the examination as it is calculated in its marking algorithm. It is expected that not all applicants will answer each question in the SSPO, as mentioned in the test instructions. 

No electronic devices (including calculators) are permitted; however, you are permitted blank paper and a writing utensil to work out solutions to the problems presented in the assessments. It is prohibited to write down the full questions for the benefit of another applicant. 

Part C is not an assessment you study for, rather they are multiple choice questions that ask your opinion on a variety of scenarios that most accurately and least accurately describe your personality. Applicants are required to be honest and truthful in their responses. There is no time limit to complete it, although it takes 30-50 minutes on average. You can find an in-depth outline of both assessments on our updated home page.

As the assessments are not pass/fail, all applicants will receive the certificate. The assessment measures how well you did in comparison to other applicants in the pool. Recruitment officers do not solely base their hiring on the results of the assessments. They will also be reviewing your fitness logs and journal, volunteer hours, education, previous work experience, and how well you perform in the interview. While you may feel you do poorly in one aspect, you can still boost your standing in others by showcasing your strengths in other departments. Each service has differing requirements based on what they are looking for to best serve the needs of their community. It is in your best interest to go above and beyond where possible to stand out as a competitive candidate.

An OACP Certificate can be obtained at any point and does not require any pre-requisites. However, those pre-requisites are required to apply to a police officer position.  

For 2021, all applicants who have a high-school diploma or equivalency (GED/other) can apply to a police constable position. As of January 1^st, 2022, the Ministry of the Solicitor General has implemented change requiring all applicants to possess a college diploma or degree to be eligible to apply for a police constable position. You must have undergone at least four full-time semesters in class for your credentials to be considered eligible.

The fitness log is to be completed over the course of 14 consecutive days, including rest days. You will record running, strength training, stress management, and other physical activity as part of your exercise regime. These exercises can be recorded at home or at a gym. You will also be required to record your sleep schedule over the course of 14 days. Once you have completed the daily fitness logs, you will submit these documents alongside your application to the police service(s) you wish to apply to. The fitness log is considered valid for one month from the date it is completed. Please inquire with the police service(s) you apply to if they have any further fitness testing later in the hiring process.

With your medical examination package in hand, you can bring it to your preferred eye care specialist (optometrist/ophthalmologist) and audiologist/hearing instrument specialist so long as they are in Canada and accessible to you. This package cannot be completed by your family doctor. Unfortunately, our policy does not currently allow military health services to conduct the assessments. However, this is under review.

If you have completed a medical package with a specific service, it is only applicable to that service you choose to submit an application with. The medical examinations must be completed to meet the standard of the OACP as laid out in the medical examination package. Any tests completed outside Canada or with another service do not apply to the OACP Certificate. 

If you have already completed a medical package with another service, please bring the OACP medical examination package to the eye care specialist and audiologist/hearing aid specialist you visited and inquire if they can transfer their signature to the OACP medical package.

Please inquire with the service(s) you wish to apply to if they will accept the ATS medical results so long as they are still marked as valid, however the OACP consider the ATS medical results as having met the standard.