OACP Certificate Test - All the Crucial Details You Must Know to Join the OPP (2024)

The term OACP Test refers to the first police exam for joining the Ontario Provincial Police. Since 2020, the Ontario Association Chiefs of Police (OACP) has been responsible for the hiring and selection process of candidates for the OPP.

To start the process of achieving the OACP Certificate, you need to purchase the OACP Package on the OACP website. The certificate package fee is 250$-50$. After you've bought the OACP package, you can start the process to obtain the certificate. 

To do so, you must pass three steps-

• Stage A: Files Submissions
• Stage B: Mental Abilities Test (SSPO Test)
• Stage C: Personality Assessment (ESQ2 Test)

Although no specific grade is required to PASS the test and obtain the OACP Certificate, it is still crucial to prepare yourself for the test, and your results will impact your chances of passing the subsequent phases in the process of joining the police. 

Want to practice example questions that simulate the OACP test? Check out our dedicated OACP sample questions page! 

Once you've purchased the OACP Certificate Package, you'll receive an email from opp containing several attachments-

• Consent of Release and Liability Form- First, you need the sign the Consent of Release and Liability form and submit it to the mentioned mail. Once you've submitted the Consent of Release and Liability form, you'll receive an email that allows you to start your OACP tests.
• Medical Examination Package- You must complete Vision and Hearing assessments at your local medical center. The doctor will assess if you meet the official criteria.
• Fitness Log and Journal- You'll be required to track you're training and sleeping routines for 14 days. The fitness log is valid for only one month from the day it has been completed.
• Proctoring Instructions
• Other Informational Packages

**NOTE: The Medical Examination Package and The Fitness Log Journal can be completed on your own time and must be submitted when applying to your desired position after achieving the OACP certificate. They aren't required to process your OAC Certificate. 

Part B contains the Sigma Survey for Police Officers (SSPO), an online assessment of General Mental Abilities. The test is performed under offline supervision through a recording web camera. The SSPO Test aims to identify candidates with the cognitive skills to use practical judgment in police situations and who can write meaningful and credible police incident reports. The SSPO General Mental Abilities test includes two sections- 

• Section A- 44 questions that measure abilities of spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, and grammar.
• Section B- 30 questions and is based on Police Problem-Solving.

Tips for Stage B-

• You'll have a time limit of 35 minutes to complete all 74 questions. This is very limited time so you should keep a good pace and don't spend too much time on a single question.
• Note that there is a penalty for incorrect answers, so you should avoid random guessing.
• You can use draft paper and pen, but no electronic devices.
• This is an online test- make sure you choose a quiet and comfortable place to take the exam with no distractions.
• Practice, practice, and more practice! is the key to success. 

Part C contains the Employment Screening Questionaire (ESQ2). The ESQ2 is an online personality assessment performed under offline supervision through a recording web camera. The exam is a self-report questionnaire of 30 multiple-choice questions that measure your propensity to engage in positive and negative behaviors in the context of work and organizational behavior, such as job satisfaction, lateness, customer service, safety and caution, reliability, etc. There is no time limit to complete this assessment, but according to OACP official information, it takes 30-50 minutes.

The test score is represented as percentiles: your goal is to achieve high scores on positive work behavior and low scores on counterproductive behaviors. When you finish the test, you will not be told your score. The police service you are applying to will request your scores directly from the OACP Certificate provider. 

Want to practice an example question that simulates sections of the ESQ2 Personality Assessment? Check out our dedicated OACP sample questions page! 

According to the official site of OACP, the Full Constable Selection System in Ontario contains 3 phases of different tests-

• Phase 1, Pre-Hiring Stage (OACP Certificate Tests)-
  • Stage 1 (A) - Online Files Submission
  • Stage 2 (B) - Mental Abilities Test
  • Stage 3 (C) - Personality Assessment
• Phase 2, Police Hiring Initial Stages-
  • Stage 4 - Information Sessions
  • Stage 5 - Application Package
  • Stage 6 - Local Focus Interview
  • Stage 7 - Essential Competency Interview
  • Stage 8 - Additional specific testing (driving, fitness, etc.)
• Phase 3, Police Hiring End Stages-
  • Stage 9 - Background Investigation
  • Stage 10 - Psychological Evaluation
  • Stage 11 - Medical Examination
  • Stage 12 - Conditional Job Offer

Until Dec 2019, the Ontario Association Chiefs of Police (OACP) and the Applicant Testing Services (ATS) had an agreement for the past 20 years to have ATS deliver the Constable Selection System (CSS) testing to meet the recruitment needs of Ontario police.

Throughout 2019, the leadership of the Ontario Police considered options to modernize and improve the CSS, and they've decided to end the contract with ATS. 

In January 2020, the OACP organization and TNT Justice Consultants took the initiative to make new adjustments to the Constable Selection System (CSS) to ensure a valuable yet barrier-free solution for all applicants and Police Services in the Province of Ontario.

The result of this process is the new hiring and selection process of Ontario PD, including the OACP certification (which it considers as the pre-submission phase and as phase 1 out of 3)