GENERAL CBSA APPLICANT CHIT CHAT

[IronWolf]

How about a quote of the day ?

"The Officer Allowance at the College and the mobility clause could be limiting the ability of the CBSA to remain competitive and to effectively place Officer Trainees where they are needed. Other organizations, some of which are competing with the CBSA for applicants (such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Ontario Provincial Police), are providing higher compensation/stipend during training. The training stipend and the process used by the CBSA to recruit and place officers in regions across Canada have had negative impacts on the Recruits and Officer Trainees, which could result in a less than desirable image of the Agency. Since word of mouth was the most frequently cited mechanism through which applicants have been made aware of career opportunities at the CBSA, improving the experience of Recruits and Officer Trainees could help attract quality applicants while ensuring that the needs of the Agency are met."

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agen ... a-eng.html

[Zepedder]

How about a quote of the day ?

"The Officer Allowance at the College and the mobility clause could be limiting the ability of the CBSA to remain competitive and to effectively place Officer Trainees where they are needed. Other organizations, some of which are competing with the CBSA for applicants (such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Ontario Provincial Police), are providing higher compensation/stipend during training. The training stipend and the process used by the CBSA to recruit and place officers in regions across Canada have had negative impacts on the Recruits and Officer Trainees, which could result in a less than desirable image of the Agency. Since word of mouth was the most frequently cited mechanism through which applicants have been made aware of career opportunities at the CBSA, improving the experience of Recruits and Officer Trainees could help attract quality applicants while ensuring that the needs of the Agency are met."

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agen ... a-eng.html

Higher compensation would be awesome during training! I've saved like crazy so I can support myself and family through Rigaud and knowing the wait time between finishing training and starting at a POE to get paid. Unfortunately I don't think that will change soon but I knew that when I applied anyway.

[IronWolf]

How about a quote of the day ?

"The Officer Allowance at the College and the mobility clause could be limiting the ability of the CBSA to remain competitive and to effectively place Officer Trainees where they are needed. Other organizations, some of which are competing with the CBSA for applicants (such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Ontario Provincial Police), are providing higher compensation/stipend during training. The training stipend and the process used by the CBSA to recruit and place officers in regions across Canada have had negative impacts on the Recruits and Officer Trainees, which could result in a less than desirable image of the Agency. Since word of mouth was the most frequently cited mechanism through which applicants have been made aware of career opportunities at the CBSA, improving the experience of Recruits and Officer Trainees could help attract quality applicants while ensuring that the needs of the Agency are met."

https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agen ... a-eng.html

Higher compensation would be awesome during training! I've saved like crazy so I can support myself and family through Rigaud and knowing the wait time between finishing training and starting at a POE to get paid. Unfortunately I don't think that will change soon but I knew that when I applied anyway.

Corrections were the same as CBSA for years, but last year in April they started paying 400$/week to their trainees. https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/003/001/00300 ... n.shtml#10

That and more predictability with the Mobility clause will make CBSA way more attractive to apply.

For me personally that's not an issue (the pay during training), but definitely matters for some applicants.

[kittycat1024]

[kittycat1024]

wow......$400/week.......and RCMP $500/week right?

I was very shocked when I first knew CBSA only offers $125/week.......

[Zepedder]

Corrections were the same as CBSA for years, but last year in April they started paying 400$/week to their trainees. https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/003/001/00300 ... n.shtml#10

That and more predictability with the Mobility clause will make CBSA way more attractive to apply.

For me personally that's not an issue (the pay during training), but definitely matters for some applicants.

Wow, that's a pretty substantial increase. It's not an issue for myself either, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't appreciate it regardless. With receiving over 20,000 applicants per posting (I think that number is correct?), I just find it hard to believe they would need to make it any more attractive for applicants.

[IronWolf]

Corrections were the same as CBSA for years, but last year in April they started paying 400$/week to their trainees. https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/003/001/00300 ... n.shtml#10

That and more predictability with the Mobility clause will make CBSA way more attractive to apply.

For me personally that's not an issue (the pay during training), but definitely matters for some applicants.

Wow, that's a pretty substantial increase. It's not an issue for myself either, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't appreciate it regardless. With receiving over 20,000 applicants per posting (I think that number is correct?), I just find it hard to believe they would need to make it any more attractive for applicants.

Quality over quantity, I say.
It's not surprising they get that many, with such low entry requirements and a salary range impossible to achieve for many with secondary degree elsewhere.

If I was making the decisions at HR, I would require applicants to do their OTEE first, then whoever passes to be required to do PARE, RPAL, Psych and Medical at their own expense before being invited to an Interview, then Security clearance stage covered by CBSA and then Rigaud with Mobility clause applied that takes under consideration Applicant preferences.

That will save so much time and $ for the agency and the # of the applicants that HR will directly process will be way lower.

[Zepedder]

Quality over quantity, I say.
It's not surprising they get that many, with such low entry requirements and a salary range impossible to achieve for many with secondary degree elsewhere.

If I was making the decisions at HR, I would require applicants to do their OTEE first, then whoever passes to be required to do PARE, RPAL, Psych and Medical at their own expense before being invited to an Interview, then Security clearance stage covered by CBSA and then Rigaud with Mobility clause applied that takes under consideration Applicant preferences.

That will save so much time and $ for the agency and the # of the applicants that HR will directly process will be way lower.

Yeah, that's fair. There's potentially a lot of quality people who are dissuaded from the process. Perhaps it will change for future applicants... who knows! But at this point, it won't really apply to myself. Anyway, best of luck to you in the process and hopefully as a future BSO!

[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.“

[IronWolf]

...best of luck to you in the process and hopefully as a future BSO!

Same to you !

[Lospollos]

Corrections were the same as CBSA for years, but last year in April they started paying 400$/week to their trainees. https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/003/001/00300 ... n.shtml#10

That and more predictability with the Mobility clause will make CBSA way more attractive to apply.

For me personally that's not an issue (the pay during training), but definitely matters for some applicants.

Wow, that's a pretty substantial increase. It's not an issue for myself either, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't appreciate it regardless. With receiving over 20,000 applicants per posting (I think that number is correct?), I just find it hard to believe they would need to make it any more attractive for applicants.

Quality over quantity, I say.
It's not surprising they get that many, with such low entry requirements and a salary range impossible to achieve for many with secondary degree elsewhere.

If I was making the decisions at HR, I would require applicants to do their OTEE first, then whoever passes to be required to do PARE, RPAL, Psych and Medical at their own expense before being invited to an Interview, then Security clearance stage covered by CBSA and then Rigaud with Mobility clause applied that takes under consideration Applicant preferences.

That will save so much time and $ for the agency and the # of the applicants that HR will directly process will be way lower.

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.

[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.

[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!