GENERAL CBSA APPLICANT CHIT CHAT

[Lospollos]

...
Good thing you aren't HR because no way in hell would I apply if that was the deal. It's almost as dumb as the ATS most Ontario polices services have.

If you think in numbers, how many hundreds of Interviews CBSA does for people that fail their Psych exams ?
That's lots of $$$/hours wasted for the agency.
Having in mind the large % fails at Psych, I would say CBSA wastes a lot of time and $ on Interviewing people that never make it.

So therefore my suggestion to make applicants do their Psych and Medical themselves before Interview to be scheduled, as they have to do PARE and RPAL now. Not a big change, but that way the operational expenses CBSA will make in the process will be substantially lower.

Why would you not apply if all you had to do different was to pay yourself for your Psych and medical ?
Some Local Police forces ask applicants to pay their education themselves for over 10K. And they are still full of applicants.

Police applicants are getting paid. It is already financially straining on people you want them to front however much cash JUST to apply then possibly make it to rigaud WITH OUT pay for 5 months. It's the exact same reason I did not apply to any police force until it's free to do so. You are weeding out good candidates based on their socioeconomic status not their actual qualifications. Means Joe blow who has money may get in because he already has a good paying job?

[IronWolf]

...
Police applicants are getting paid. It is already financially straining on people you want them to front however much cash JUST to apply then possibly make it to rigaud WITH OUT pay for 5 months. It's the exact same reason I did not apply to any police force until it's free to do so. You are weeding out good candidates based on their socioeconomic status not their actual qualifications. Means Joe blow who has money may get in because he already has a good paying job?

I can see your point, but money doesn't make one pass the Psych exam ... and how about this :

If you pass the Psych and the Interview, you get reimbursed the Psych and Medical exam expenses by CBSA ?

So successful candidates will occur no extra expense and CBSA will only interview the ones that pass Psych and medical, not wasting time and $ themselves too.

Sounds fair to me

[PrairieFire31]

I got this last week.
Anybody else get an email like this?
Looking forward to what’s next.

”As you have successfully passed all the assessment stages within the selection process, you will be sent a formal invitation from the Officer Recruitment Program to participate in the Officer Induction Training Program (OITP) once a date has been secured. Therefore kindly continue to check your emails frequently for further correspondences regarding this selection process.

Our next classes are set to begin in Summer, the dates have not yet been set.“

I received this same email verbatim back in November (they had only sent out the January invites at the time). The only difference was it had no mention of summer. Two months later I received an email asking me to recertify my PARE and then a month after that received an email asking to recertify my medical. Around and around we go!

[Ulcaster555]

...As I have tried to say here but nobody has seemed to get the message, my issue is that other Ottawa candidates are getting LOCAL interviews but others such as myself are being told to travel. If there are places local to you then you should be given that option, even if it extends the length of your process. It isn't fair and is another deterrent to applicants when they aren't consistent in their treatment of recruits from the same locales.

Consider emailing them back and ask again, pointing out the issue again and letting them know you were given the same location. They do make mistakes, this might be one of them. Likely just an error on their part or they may have a reason (example: no one in your area is doing interviews for next while, so they have to have it there or else you will be waiting an indeterminate amount of time for a date when they can book it in your city).

As far as i know initial interviews are all done in Rigaud for Quebec and Ottawa region, were talking about the interview for the competencies/ scenarios, it is because of the ressources and personnel, they need a place to sleep, classes/rooms etc.. your integrity interview will probably be done in Ottawa.

[cbmcmsa]

...As I have tried to say here but nobody has seemed to get the message, my issue is that other Ottawa candidates are getting LOCAL interviews but others such as myself are being told to travel. If there are places local to you then you should be given that option, even if it extends the length of your process. It isn't fair and is another deterrent to applicants when they aren't consistent in their treatment of recruits from the same locales.

Consider emailing them back and ask again, pointing out the issue again and letting them know you were given the same location. They do make mistakes, this might be one of them. Likely just an error on their part or they may have a reason (example: no one in your area is doing interviews for next while, so they have to have it there or else you will be waiting an indeterminate amount of time for a date when they can book it in your city).

As far as i know initial interviews are all done in Rigaud for Quebec and Ottawa region, were talking about the interview for the competencies/ scenarios, it is because of the ressources and personnel, they need a place to sleep, classes/rooms etc.. your integrity interview will probably be done in Ottawa.

With the initial interviews they book a full days worth. It's not one a day. Just to add to Ulcaster's post. Yes Rigaud is not in an Ontario Region, but being that it's so close and literally where they do their BSO training classes, it is also where they have a wealth of resources available for Interviews. The RCMP do their interviews out of Regina or Ottawa based on proximity and are done over the phone now so that they can have centralized interview locations. It's not a perfect situation, but it does alleviate some of the issues with travelling for an interview. That being said, like I've said, and several have said... If you aren't able/willing to make some sacrifices this job isn't for you.

[WSM109]

I got this last week.
Anybody else get an email like this?
Looking forward to what’s next.

”As you have successfully passed all the assessment stages within the selection process, you will be sent a formal invitation from the Officer Recruitment Program to participate in the Officer Induction Training Program (OITP) once a date has been secured. Therefore kindly continue to check your emails frequently for further correspondences regarding this selection process.

Our next classes are set to begin in Summer, the dates have not yet been set.“

I received this same email verbatim back in November (they had only sent out the January invites at the time). The only difference was it had no mention of summer. Two months later I received an email asking me to recertify my PARE and then a month after that received an email asking to recertify my medical. Around and around we go!

Did they say why you had to redo your PARE and medical even though they weren’t expired?

[PrairieFire31]

I got this last week.
Anybody else get an email like this?
Looking forward to what’s next.

”As you have successfully passed all the assessment stages within the selection process, you will be sent a formal invitation from the Officer Recruitment Program to participate in the Officer Induction Training Program (OITP) once a date has been secured. Therefore kindly continue to check your emails frequently for further correspondences regarding this selection process.

Our next classes are set to begin in Summer, the dates have not yet been set.“

I received this same email verbatim back in November (they had only sent out the January invites at the time). The only difference was it had no mention of summer. Two months later I received an email asking me to recertify my PARE and then a month after that received an email asking to recertify my medical. Around and around we go!

Did they say why you had to redo your PARE and medical even though they weren’t expired?

Well, my PARE was expiring March 2020 and my medical was expiring June 2020. My assumption is so I never had any point where I wasn't certified. Just a guess though. Also, I'm still waiting for my medical to come back.

[A North]

...
Good thing you aren't HR because no way in hell would I apply if that was the deal. It's almost as dumb as the ATS most Ontario polices services have.

If you think in numbers, how many hundreds of Interviews CBSA does for people that fail their Psych exams ?
That's lots of $$$/hours wasted for the agency.
Having in mind the large % fails at Psych, I would say CBSA wastes a lot of time and $ on Interviewing people that never make it.

So therefore my suggestion to make applicants do their Psych and Medical themselves before Interview to be scheduled, as they have to do PARE and RPAL now. Not a big change, but that way the operational expenses CBSA will make in the process will be substantially lower.

Why would you not apply if all you had to do different was to pay yourself for your Psych and medical ?
Some Local Police forces ask applicants to pay their education themselves for over 10K. And they are still full of applicants.

My only complaint about requiring psych and medical at your own expense before an interview is that a large amount of Canadians don't have family doctors as is and the wait times are already deplorable for psychologists in many parts of Canada, not to mention the costs for sessions and the spots taken away from people who actually need to see psychologists. CATIII on your own if re-compensated upon job offer, sure but in my opinion CBSA would be better hiring their own psychologists for recruitment.

[IronWolf]

...
Good thing you aren't HR because no way in hell would I apply if that was the deal. It's almost as dumb as the ATS most Ontario polices services have.

If you think in numbers, how many hundreds of Interviews CBSA does for people that fail their Psych exams ?
That's lots of $$$/hours wasted for the agency.
Having in mind the large % fails at Psych, I would say CBSA wastes a lot of time and $ on Interviewing people that never make it.

So therefore my suggestion to make applicants do their Psych and Medical themselves before Interview to be scheduled, as they have to do PARE and RPAL now. Not a big change, but that way the operational expenses CBSA will make in the process will be substantially lower.

Why would you not apply if all you had to do different was to pay yourself for your Psych and medical ?
Some Local Police forces ask applicants to pay their education themselves for over 10K. And they are still full of applicants.

My only complaint about requiring psych and medical at your own expense before an interview is that a large amount of Canadians don't have family doctors as is and the wait times are already deplorable for psychologists in many parts of Canada, not to mention the costs for sessions and the spots taken away from people who actually need to see psychologists. CATIII on your own if re-compensated upon job offer, sure but in my opinion CBSA would be better hiring their own psychologists for recruitment.

My idea was assuming only testing at CBSA approved practitioners (Medical and Psych) in Canada (same as they do for PARE now). Once you have successful OTEE, you can proceed with other tests on your own (same as PARE and RPAL now)

The ultimate goal is to save the CBSA's time and expense Interviewing people that will never make it to the end of the process. Freeing resources for other things, like increasing the pay during training, or making the selection process more efficient, or coordinating POE demands for new staff with applicant's preferences.

[A North]

If you think in numbers, how many hundreds of Interviews CBSA does for people that fail their Psych exams ?
That's lots of $$$/hours wasted for the agency.
Having in mind the large % fails at Psych, I would say CBSA wastes a lot of time and $ on Interviewing people that never make it.

So therefore my suggestion to make applicants do their Psych and Medical themselves before Interview to be scheduled, as they have to do PARE and RPAL now. Not a big change, but that way the operational expenses CBSA will make in the process will be substantially lower.

Why would you not apply if all you had to do different was to pay yourself for your Psych and medical ?
Some Local Police forces ask applicants to pay their education themselves for over 10K. And they are still full of applicants.

My only complaint about requiring psych and medical at your own expense before an interview is that a large amount of Canadians don't have family doctors as is and the wait times are already deplorable for psychologists in many parts of Canada, not to mention the costs for sessions and the spots taken away from people who actually need to see psychologists. CATIII on your own if re-compensated upon job offer, sure but in my opinion CBSA would be better hiring their own psychologists for recruitment.

My idea was assuming only testing at CBSA approved practitioners (Medical and Psych) in Canada (same as they do for PARE now). Once you have successful OTEE, you can proceed with other tests on your own (same as PARE and RPAL now)

The ultimate goal is to save the CBSA's time and expense Interviewing people that will never make it to the end of the process. Freeing resources for other things, like increasing the pay during training, or making the selection process more efficient, or coordinating POE demands for new staff with applicant's preferences.

That I would be in favour of then!

[Kevlar]

I received this same email verbatim back in November (they had only sent out the January invites at the time). The only difference was it had no mention of summer. Two months later I received an email asking me to recertify my PARE and then a month after that received an email asking to recertify my medical. Around and around we go!

Same here. Back in Nov. And again end of Feb. But here we are lol.

[PrairieFire31]

I received this same email verbatim back in November (they had only sent out the January invites at the time). The only difference was it had no mention of summer. Two months later I received an email asking me to recertify my PARE and then a month after that received an email asking to recertify my medical. Around and around we go!

Same here. Back in Nov. And again end of Feb. But here we are lol.

c'est la vie

[CaptainMarvel]

...As I have tried to say here but nobody has seemed to get the message, my issue is that other Ottawa candidates are getting LOCAL interviews but others such as myself are being told to travel. If there are places local to you then you should be given that option, even if it extends the length of your process. It isn't fair and is another deterrent to applicants when they aren't consistent in their treatment of recruits from the same locales.

Consider emailing them back and ask again, pointing out the issue again and letting them know you were given the same location. They do make mistakes, this might be one of them. Likely just an error on their part or they may have a reason (example: no one in your area is doing interviews for next while, so they have to have it there or else you will be waiting an indeterminate amount of time for a date when they can book it in your city).

As far as i know initial interviews are all done in Rigaud for Quebec and Ottawa region, were talking about the interview for the competencies/ scenarios, it is because of the ressources and personnel, they need a place to sleep, classes/rooms etc.. your integrity interview will probably be done in Ottawa.

Makes sense, thanks for the input!

[bordurrr]

can BSO's become investigators in CID? If so how long doe that typically take before they're eligible?

[Ulcaster555]

can BSO's become investigators in CID? If so how long doe that typically take before they're eligible?

CID (Criminal Investigation Division), yes you can become a criminal investigator. Depending on the competition, it can be 5 years experience as a BSO but competitions change all the time and its been a while since the last one.

C.I are FB-05 just like a supervisor, there is also Regional Intelligence Officers RIO's and Intelligence Analysts both are FB-04.