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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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

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.

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.

When you obtain the OACP Certificate package, you have six (6) months from the purchase date to submit the required documents outlined in the email package and write the online assessments. Applicants may write these tests whenever convenient, without needing to schedule an appointment. The only time-sensitive component is registering your ProctorFree account within 24 hours of receiving their registration email, as the link inside expires as a security precaution. This email is typically sent to applicants 24 to 48 hours after they receive our confirmation receipt of their required documents.

When you purchase the full OACP Certificate package, a series of emails will be sent that contain several attachments that 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 (SSPO) assessment and personality assessment. These assessments have no pass/fail components and are  accessible to all applicants. From the date of purchase, you have six (6) months to write the online assessments, and you can do so whenever convenient for you. Included in the email packages for Part B and Part C are study materials that can help you prepare for the assessments.  After we receive your assessment results, we will process your certificate and you can expect to receive it in a few days via email. 

After receiving your certificate, you may submit it along with your application (including your completed medical package and fitness log) to the police services to which you wish to apply. When you apply to the police service(s), please inquire about any further fitness testing requirements later in the hiring process.

There are no prerequisites to purchase and receive your OACP Certificate. However, police service(s) may have prerequisites depending on the job posting you are applying for. You should inquire with the police service(s) you are interested in applying to for any further information regarding potential requirements and restrictions.

Unfortunately, as the pre-hire testing administrator, we cannot answer this question for you. We do suggest that you contact the police service you wish to work for and inquire about potential disqualifiers.

With the medical examination package provided in the Part A email package, you are to have it completed by your preferred eye care specialist for the vision test and audiologist/hearing instrument specialist for the hearing test. Both practitioners must be located in Canada. Please also note that it cannot be completed by a family doctor. Once you have completed the medical examination package, it is valid for two (2) years from the date it is signed, and it can then be delivered to the police service(s) you wish to apply to. As a reminder, the full medical examination package is not required to receive your OACP Certificate.

Applicants do not have their assessment results provided to them; they are forwarded directly to the police service(s) you apply to when they receive your application. 

As the assessments are no pass/fail, all applicants are guaranteed to 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 review your fitness logs and journal, volunteer hours, education, previous work experience, and how well you perform in the in-person interview. While you may feel you did poorly in one aspect, you can still boost your standing in others by showcasing your strengths in other areas. Each service has differing requirements based on what they are looking for to best serve the needs of their communities. We encourage you to strive to do your absolute best in all areas of the recruitment process in order to stand out as a competitive candidate.

The online assessments have a no pass/fail component and are more approachable for new applicants. The applicant must complete  Part B and C assessments simultaneously, which takes 60-90 minutes. Please ensure you set aside an appropriate amount of time to complete this examination uninterrupted. 

Part B (SSPO) has two sections; Section A consists of 44 questions that measure spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar, and Section B consists of 30 questions based on police problem-solving. The quantitative section has been removed. There is some math included in the police problem-solving section; however, it is not the focus of that section. The math questions are word problems involving only the basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). You will have 35 minutes to complete all 74 multiple-choice questions. Avoided “blind guessing” as there is a penalty for selecting incorrect answers. Please note that if you are unsure about the answer to a question, you may leave it blank and return to it later if there is time remaining. Questions left blank are unscored when the assessment is submitted for evaluation. 

No electronic devices (including calculators) are permitted; however, you can have blank paper and a writing tool (pen, pencil) to solve the problems presented in the assessments. It is prohibited to write down the complete questions for the benefit of another applicant. 

Part C is not an assessment you study for; they are multiple choice questions that ask your opinion on various 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 the updated OACP Certificate website home page. 

The OACP does not recommend or endorse any third-party company offering preparation for these assessments. For further preparation, the information outlined below are search suggestions you can type into Google that will be able to help you! 

• Free cognitive ability practice assessments
• Free verbal comprehension practice assessments
• Free word problems practice assessments