Two employers, two hiring processes
In Canada, who runs a sentence depends on its length. The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is responsible for offenders sentenced to two years or more. Offenders serving less than two years, or on probation, are the responsibility of the provinces and territories. So if you want to be a correctional officer, you apply either to CSC for a federal penitentiary, or to a province such as Ontario for a provincial jail, detention centre or correctional centre. Each has its own process and its own tests.
CSC: the Situational Judgement Test
CSC hires Correctional Officer I (CX-01) recruits through GC Jobs. If you are selected for further assessment, CSC lists three assessments: a Situational Judgement Test (SJT), a psychological assessment (a questionnaire and a structured clinical interview) and a pre-placement medical assessment. CSC publishes a free SJT Preparation Guide, and these are the facts it gives about the test:
| Feature | CSC Situational Judgement Test |
|---|---|
| Questions | 100, worth two marks each |
| Pass mark | 130 out of 200 |
| Time | 90 minutes, not counting administration time |
| Format | Work situations, each followed by possible responses. You rate how effective each response is, from A (very ineffective) to E (very effective). Two responses can get the same rating. |
| Themes | Security of the institution and the public; security of staff, including during transport; security of inmates, including during transport; fire, environmental hazards and medical emergencies; and offender accountability |
CSC says the SJT has the CX competencies built into it, along with the mission, values and ethics of CSC and the public service. Its guide also says this test is different from the Public Service Commission's Test of Judgement (TOJ-375) and SJT-318, and results from those tests cannot be used. For the CX-01 education requirement, the job poster accepts a high school diploma, a provincially approved equivalency, or a satisfactory score on a Public Service Commission test approved as an alternative, arranged by CSC.
The Correctional Training Program has three stages. Stage 1, about 80 hours of online learning within 4 weeks, is part of the assessment. Candidates selected after it receive a conditional offer and go on to Stage 2 (about 40 hours online over 3 to 4 weeks) and Stage 3 (about 14 weeks of in-class training).
Ontario: written tests, FITCO and training
Ontario hires through the Ontario Public Service careers site only. Ontario says applicants must be at least 18, hold a Grade 12 diploma or an approved equivalency, be certified (or able to be certified by the first day) in emergency first aid, CPR and AED, and be able to work rotating shifts. If you apply and meet the requirements, you are invited to a series of written tests that Ontario says check the aptitude, cognitive and behavioural requirements of the job. If you pass, you are invited to an interview. You must also pass the Fitness Test for Ontario Correctional Officer Applicants (FITCO), which has a search station, an emergency response circuit and an aerobic shuttle run, plus security screening, a medical exam and an eight-week training program. Ontario does not publish the format of its written tests.
What is official here, and what is our practice
The facts above come from CSC, the Government of Ontario and the federal and Ontario laws listed under Sources. The questions are ours. Every question is original and written for practice; none is a real CSC or Ontario test question, and CSC itself says it does not endorse commercial study guides. How our four sections line up:
- Situational judgement (58 questions): work situations built on the five SJT themes and CSC's values. The real SJT asks you to rate each response on an A to E scale. To keep scoring clear, our version asks you to pick the MOST or the LEAST effective response. It trains the same judgement, but the real test will look different.
- Reasoning and numeracy (47 questions): counts, shift times on the 24-hour clock, percentages, series and logic. This is general aptitude practice for the kind of cognitive testing Ontario describes, not a copy of any official test.
- Reading and report writing (39 questions): grammar, Canadian spelling, objective report wording, and short passages based on the law. CSC lists daily logs, reports and effective communication among the duties and competencies of the job.
- Corrections knowledge (56 questions): CSC's role, Mission and values, the SJT and training facts, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) and Ontario's process. CSC recommends being familiar with its Mission, values and the job before you write the SJT.
How to prepare
- Know the values. CSC's five values are respect, fairness, professionalism, inclusiveness and accountability. In judgement questions, the best answer is usually the one that keeps people safe, follows procedure, involves the right people and treats everyone with dignity.
- Know the core of the CCRA. The protection of society is the paramount consideration (s. 3.1), the Service uses the least restrictive measures consistent with protecting society, staff and offenders (s. 4(c)), and offenders keep their rights except those lawfully and necessarily limited by the sentence (s. 4(d)).
- Watch the clock. The real SJT gives 90 minutes for 100 questions, a little under a minute each.
- Write like a reporter. Times, names and what you saw and did, in order, without opinions or labels.
Aptitude Tests Canada is an independent practice platform. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Correctional Service of Canada, the Public Service Commission, the Government of Ontario or any correctional institution.
Three worked examples
One question from different sections of the full pack, with the answer and explanation.
During a visit, you see a visitor slide a small folded package across the table to an inmate. What is the MOST effective response?
- Let the visit finish so there is no scene in the visiting room, then search the inmate's cell at some point the next day.
- Alert your partner and the control post, keep both people in sight, and follow procedure to end the visit.
- Do nothing, because every visitor was already screened at the front entrance before the visit started.
- Reach across the table and grab the package yourself at once, without telling anyone what you are doing or why.
What number comes next in the series? 5, 9, 17, 33, ?
- 65
- 49
- 57
- 66
Which word is spelled correctly?
- separate
- seperate
- separete
- seperete