CBSA Hiring Process: Job Application, Interview, and Employment

CBSA Hiring Process: Job Application, Interview, and Employment

The hiring process at CBSA involves various stages, including the job application and interview processes you must successfully complete to be employed by the Company.

Please, continue reading to learn about the CBSA recruitment process and improve your chances of being hired by the Company.

CBSA Organizational Overview

CBSA, known in full as the Canada Border Service Agency is a federal agency that has a responsibility for protecting the border, conducting surveillance, enforcing immigration and customs services in Canada.

The CBSA began since December 2003 and was created by an order-in-council, merging Canada Customs with border and enforcement staffs from the Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s department, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Furthermore, the Canada Border Service Agency is in charge of overseeing virtually 1,200 service locations throughout Canada and in over 35 other countries.

The agency recruits more than 12,000 public servants and offers 24hours service at 119 land border crossings, as well as 13 international airports.

The CBSA Hiring Process

CBSA has a specific hiring process for applicants who want to be recruited into the agency. The stages involved in the hiring process are as follows:

Online Job Application

To get recruited at CBSA, you need to submit an online application through the agency’s official website or visit jobs.gc.ca.

But before you can apply for a position, you must create an applicant profile, which normally take about 10 minutes to complete.

After that, scroll up or down and check for the position, and then click on Apply Online.

During the application, you must visibly explain or demonstrate how you can meet all the basic requirements for the role.

A platform will be provided for this right there on the site.

If the recruiters don’t find you suitable or qualified that would completely prevent you from moving to the next step in the hiring process.

If you meet the whole requirements, you might be invited to write the necessary CBSA standardized tests.

2. Required Standardized Tests

These tests are for applicants who meet the basic requirements for the position. To participate in the tests, there are some documents and information you must provide to CBSA.

Before the test session(s), it is highly compulsory that you provide your proof of Canadian status, such as citizenship or permanent residence.

You will also provide one piece of the Canadian government-issued photo I.D as well as your fingerprint and permanent home address.

If you are not able to provide the documents that are being required, it would be impossible for you to sit the standardized tests.

Moreover, if you are able to bring all the needful, you will be registered and well informed on how you can participate in the tests.

Passing the test successfully is highly important. If you fail to do so, the recruiters will eliminate you from the hiring process.

3. Second Language Evaluation

The Canada Border Service Agency is committed to improving its capacity to offer services in official languages of the country.

In some positions, it will be compulsory for personnel to be very fluent and proficient in the two official Canadian languages, which are English and French. But some positions only require an employee to be fluent in either English or French.

As a result of this, CBSA normally conducts a Second Language Evaluation (SLE), especially for applicants who would occupy positions that require fluency and proficiency in speaking and hearing both languages.

Once an individual is not successful at the SLE, he or she would be given another chance to participate in the test again.

4. CBSA Physical Abilities Standard Test

This test is a tool used for screening out applicants by assessing their abilities to participate in the physical training program that will be conducted for all the new persons that would be recruited at CBSA.

Many law enforcement agencies and other government department in Canada make use of this test during their recruitment process.

Candidates are expected to perform the test in about 4 hours or less. Your ability to meet this standard is an operational requirement for you to receive an appointment to participate in the CBSA personnel training.

It is necessary that you provide proof of successful participation of the test, when you would be invited for an interview. Failure to do so will prompt the recruiters to prevent you from being interviewed.

5. Interview

During the hiring process, an interview session is something that must occur. Candidates who have been performing excellently at the previous stages of the hiring process will be invited for an interview.

The interview process is very difficult according to the attestations of applicants who have experienced it.

At the interview, here are the major competencies that will be evaluated:

Analytical thinking
Decisiveness
Client service orientation
Values and ethics
Personal integrity
Judgment
Handling complex situations
Effective interactive communication skill
Diligence

If you fail to pass the interview successfully, the CBSA recruiters will quickly eliminate you from further consideration, and you will have no right to apply for at least two years.

The interview will be divided into three stages. The first stage would be a group test, the second interview is conducted by three interviewers asking you various questions regarding your position and the reason you chose to be a CBSA employee.

The frequently asked CBSA interview questions include:

CBSA is very pleased to recruit ambitious personnel. What stage would you like to get to as an employee at this agency?
Your role at this agency is very significant. What understanding do you have about this position, as well as the responsibilities that it requires?
From your own perspective, what has been the best technology advancement this past year?
Have you worked on an interesting project this year or before, how was it, and what is the best lesson you got from it?
CBSA is an agency that is very proud of its ability to stay ahead of its fellow competitors. As an employee, what contribution can you bring to ensure this trend continues?

The last part of the interview would be more like selecting the applicants who successfully passed the interview (unknown to the applicants).

Applicants will not be informed if they have been chosen or not. They will only receive a response later on.

6. CBSA Secret Security Clearance Screening

Due to the policy on government security and the requirements of CBSA, at no specific point during the recruitment process, the agency will request applicants to pass through the secret security clearance screening processes.

Every candidate will get an email respectively from CBSA security group demanding that they should attend to specific documentation and take it back to the security group.

The moment candidates receive the security screening message via their email, they need to go ahead and get a digital fingerprint to start the security screening process.

As a candidate, it is very necessary to print, complete, and take the digital fingerprint request form to the commissionaire’s office that is nearest to your residence.

The commissionaire’s office will receive the fingerprint of the candidate and take it back to CBSA’s security division.

For candidates who don’t reside close to the commissionaire’s office, they have a few options. They can get themselves presented to any CBSA security office that is nearest to them, and also performs fingerprint services.

Alternatively, candidates who are close to the commissionaire’s office, should get themselves presented to the provincial police or RCMP detachment that is nearest to them, for ink-and-roll fingerprint service.

7. Psychological Test

One of the vital steps for evaluating potential candidates for a career in any law enforcement agency is through Psychological testing.

The Canada Border Service Agency, as well as other law enforcement agencies throughout Canada, makes use of psychological evaluation as one of the hiring processes to guarantee that new potential personnel are psychological and emotionally fit to perform and utilize lethal and non-lethal for equipment, as well as a firearm, and undergo utilization of force training.

Moreover, the psychological testing and assessment is being conducted in two stages, and it assesses a candidate’s fitness to carry a duty firearm.

The evaluations help CBSA to recognize possible judgment or behavior-based issues, which tends to have a negative effect on someone’s ability to perform judgment in enforcement situations.

How Long Does CBSA Hiring Last?

After participating in the interview, CBSA recruitment team will send you a message via your email.

This mail will inform you how you performed at the interview and the estimated number of people that were selected to continue the hiring process.

You will also be informed if you have been selected as well. This message is usually sent a month or more after your interview.

CBSA Jobs and Careers

The main job or career available at this agency is CBSA Officer. This position is highly significant to the agency, since it is responsible for performing almost all the duties of the agency.

As a CBSA Officer, you will be highly instrumental to the agency, having a responsibility in searching the country’s borders, and significantly minimizing the threat of crime and terrorism.

A CBSA officer is liable for thoroughly screening immigrants coming into the country, to ensure that anyone entering Canada poses no harm at all to the country and its citizens.

Also, there are some special tasks assigned to the CBSA Officer to perform, in order to ensure that the borders of Canada are well protected and safe.

What to Expect Working at CBSA

As a recruit or personnel at CBSA, you are entitled to several privileges and benefits. Your wages will be increased annually, plus very interesting and intelligent employees to network with.

The agency tries as much as possible to aid employees when necessary, in performing their assigned-duties.

While you work, you will come across opportunities to advance your career, and then grow with the agency.

You can also be given days, weeks, or even months off work as long as it is very important to you.

However, if you are an employee that is not fluent in speaking and hearing the country’s official languages – English and French, you might struggle to get retained.

There are long working hours sometimes and complex work-related issues to resolve. At CBSA, all employees are to resume at least 20 minutes before the day’s work commences.

Conclusion

CBSA is an agency committed to serve its country efficiently, faithfully, and without flaws. Thus, they are in search of skilled, agile, and diligent individuals who also have the same passion as the agency.

As long as you can successfully undergo the agency’s hiring process, you are sure of getting recruited as one of the staffs.

The CBSA recruitment process is a journey that cannot be undergone effortlessly. It requires perseverance, patience and professionalism.