Training and benefits

Fishery officer training

If you pass the application process to be a fishery officer, including a screening, an entrance exam, a writing skills exam, a simulation exercise, an interview, and reference checks, and meet the conditions of employment, you may be recruited into the Fishery Officer Initial Training (FOIT) Program as a fishery officer cadet. If you are successful in the FOIT, you will be appointed as a fishery officer and will move on to field training.

Overall, the training from fishery officer cadet to fishery officer takes about 19 weeks (in class), followed by 30 months of field training.

Fishery officer entrance exam sample questions

Prepared by Evaluation Personnel Selection International (EPSI)

Analytical thinking/judgement

You are called upon to review a report regarding the illegal activities of a commercial fisher that was produced by another branch of the department. You recognize that there is some questionable information contained within the report and that the data doesn't align throughout the document.

What would be the most effective response to this situation?

• Evaluate the document and provide a detailed report back to your contact within the branch with your recommendations for improvement and accuracy.
• Raise this issue to your supervisor as you now question the work ethic of those who have developed this report.
• Make the necessary changes and send the report back to your contact within the branch.
• Trust that your contact within the other branch must have had information you did not, and leave the report as is.

Client service

You received an email from an agitated client stating that your processes and guidelines are biased and unfair and that they intend to file a complaint regarding the services your organization renders. They provide a list of examples that illustrate these concerns. You are not personally familiar with any of the examples they have provided.

What would be the most effective response to this situation?

• Promptly respond to the stakeholder and acknowledge receipt of their email and apologize for the issues they are facing.
• Investigate the issues further, gathering information to validate the client's claims, and provide a detailed response addressing the concerns.
• Tell the client that you trust the integrity and fairness of your organization's processes and guidelines as they have been reliable many times before and apologize for the issues they have faced.
• Ask around to see if any colleagues are familiar with this stakeholder and delegate the file accordingly to those who are familiar with the issues.

Reasoning

Find the missing sequel to the series below:

355 661 706 ? 913

• 750
• 835
• 814
• 906

Cross cultural sensitivity/respectful of diversity

Your supervisor has tasked you with finalizing an onboarding plan for a new employee being hired to work in your team alongside you. The new employee has had accommodation made to their work hours for reasons you do not know. They begin their work day earlier and end earlier than the rest of the team. Upon further review of the onboarding plan, you notice some of the scheduled activities will interfere with the specific accommodation made for this employee. Your supervisor left the office for the day and the employee's first day is tomorrow.

Which action, among the following, represents the most appropriate method of addressing the situation?

• Finalize the onboarding plan to fit the employee's accommodation and show it to your supervisor for their approval the following morning before the employee arrives.
• Delay incorporating some of these activities until later into the employee's first week, so you are able to consult your supervisor and make modifications if necessary.
• Incorporate the activities your supervisor identified, as perhaps the timing was already cleared with the new employee.
• Leave a message on your supervisor's mobile phone alerting them to the issues in scheduling and letting them know you will make the necessary adjustments.

Self-confidence

You've noticed that many of the processes and procedures your team uses are outdated or complicated, causing more workload than necessary. You are the most junior on the team and when you suggest some more innovative methods, some of the senior colleagues are opposed to them. They state that the frequent delays and large workloads are simply due to busy periods, not the processes and procedures.

What would be the most effective response to this situation?

• Wait until your team is going through a less busy period to see if their argument is valid.
• Ask your supervisor if you can personally use different approaches in conducting your work to prove your methods and ideas will be more efficient.
• Open a dialogue with your colleagues by providing fact-based arguments that support your ideas, and suggest that the team can incorporate the elements that they like.
• Let go of the subject, as the team is full of senior employees who are more familiar with work requirements and expectations.

In-residence classroom training

In-residence classroom training takes approximately 19 weeks. You'll gain skills in areas such as:

• fishing gear familiarization
• fish identification and biology
• laws and regulations
• fisheries management
• departmental policies and guidelines
• enforcement methods and procedures, including use of force skills such as police defense tactics, firearms training and mandatory exposure to pepper spray

Training currently takes place at the Atlantic Police Academy in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. During this time, you will receive a weekly allowance of $1000. Your allowance will be deducted at the source for your income tax, employment insurance and the Canada/Québec pension plan.

Please note that you may be required to reimburse part of the travel, room and board, and other costs related to the classroom training if you:

• voluntarily leave the classroom training program before its completion
• successfully complete the classroom training, but refuse a fishery officer position
• accept a fishery officer position, but voluntarily leave before completing at least 30 months of employment

Field training

After successfully completing the classroom training and exam, you'll be hired as a GT-02 fishery officer.  You'll then have to successfully complete 30 months of field training in order to be appointed to a GT-04 fishery officer position. During these 30 months, you will be paired with a field trainer to help you gain knowledge and experience as well as putting into practice what you have learned through the FOIT.

Benefits of being a fishery officer

• enrolment in one of most competitive pension plans in Canada
• a clear career development path to help you progress in your career
• a fulfilling and rewarding career that is never routine, every day has new challenges to tackle.
• access to Employee Resource Groups
• access to the Public Service Health Care Plan
• access to the Public Service Dental Care Plan
• insurance benefits
• access to Employee Assistance Services: Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP hires mental health professionals that represent the diversity of the federal public service. Their goal is to make sure professionals with diverse backgrounds are available to connect clients, on request, with the right counsellor, based on experience. This can include experience supporting a specific community or equity-deserving group. EAP services include:
  • grief and loss
  • team building
  • career development
  • change management
  • balancing work and family
  • stress & anger management
  • mediation and management coaching
  • workplace health assessment