Jh88

Ohhh i see! so if i'm understanding you right its basically like an ECA that is issued by the province/red seal certifier? (i'm looking at red seal as though it is a qualification like our NVQ)

Stumpylegs

Automotive service technician, I sat it in SK, but spoke with the people who organise the exams (the apprentice and trade certification commision), just had to book it 28 days in advance of the exam date, they had a calendar online with exams roughly once per month - if i remember correctly BC had a lot more choice of exam dates (I debated booking my exams in BC and SK as in theory you could challenge both exam boards at the same time rather than wait for your mark, and a resit, and for AST at least the course material was the same across both provinces),

Note - booking is sort of 2 stage, you send them an application to challenge the exam, is basically proving your work history and UK (or other country quals) with a fee, they then approve or decline this, giving you a letter that allows you to book your exam. Whole process took me around 4 months, but could have been done in 2 - they had me approved within 2-3 weeks of sending my application in, then I sat on it for a bit prior to booking my exam.

Not exactly, it's attached to your C of Q, basically giving the exam the backing of the red seal program, idea is it means you don't have to resit an exam for that trade in another province. Whether you have a redseal or not attached to your C of Q makes no difference to your points, but these days for the trades that are red seal approved, your C of Q almost always comes with the red seal attached - the deal with SK and BC is you apply for the exam and tick both the box for CofQ and Redseal and if successful you get both - there is no extra cost, the passmark is the same and for SK it was definitely the same exam. Unsure why you wouldn't tick both boxes when going for your C of Q.

Jh88

Thanks Stumpylegs

Makes a lot more sense now. I gave them a call yesterday and they said it will be 6-8 weeks to get approved to challenge and then about that long again to book the exam and get my results so i'm guessing they're a bit slower/busier in BC at the moment.

I'm thinking my best plan of attack is going to be to send all of my qualifications, including high school off for ECA, while also booking to challenge the red seal and seeing if i can get that job offer secured in writing with the current employer. then just use whichever option works out or comes first haha!

On a side note, can any of you point me in the direction of a template or some sort of guidelines for the employers job offer letter? also, i'm seeing online that i need 12 months continuous or 1560 days of skilled work... does this mean that i have to have been with the same employer for the whole time? i have the full amount of days, but they are split between two different companies, with a month or two of unskilled work between to the two can anyone foresee that being a problem?

Thanks for all the help so far guys its much appreciated!

Capthanky

How did you get on with getting your NVQ 6 assessed? I’ve got a 7 and can’t find out if it’s actually worth anything..

Jh88

I ended up challenging and passing the CoQ/red seal , as I couldn't get any definite response from the ECA companies and didn't want to risk leaving the country without being sure.

Currently back in the UK so will be applying from here... I think I'm gonna put in for an ECA either way as that could only help with my points even more.

Will post back here when I find out but likely to be a few weeks at least.

What is your Nvq7 in? From what I gather the ECA companies *officially* don't assess vocational qualifications so that basically covers all NVQs unfortunately... However I have read a few posts online where people have said they did get an assessment/had a percentage of the points but not all, so may just be a case of who ends up doing the ECA and the paperwork they are provided with.

Capthanky

Thanks. My NVQ is in senior construction management. I’m also in the process of getting my MCIOB and from what I understand I can get a gold seal once I have it.

Jh88

I imagine that being mciob would carry a lot more weight than just the Nvq, not something that I've looked into but I would think there's a lot more chance of the ECA companies taking your qualification seriously at that point.

christmasoompa

MCIOB won't make any difference for an ECA, it's purely professional, not an academic qualification.

Meshi

Hello .

I wonder how did you get on with your ECA ? I am currently working as a formwork carpenter and looking to challenge the red seal as well . Could you help me with the requirements and was it hard getting it ?

Thank you Leon .

Jh88

Hi Leon,

I didn't end up going for the ECA, as when I contacted the ECA providers only one of them (WES i think from memory) was even willing to consider an assessment of any form (confirmed by the man I spoke to at their call centre, although I don't think he fully understood my questions)... However their website stated that they would not assess vocational qualifications... so with the conflicting info and my rush to secure my chance to return, I just went all in for the CofQ and red seal certificate.

Luckily in the end I challenged and passed the exam, which allowed me to achieve the certificate of qualification and red seal. I would say that it is a fairly difficult exam to do on short notice, but certainly not unachievable if your willing to study.

The first step was contacting the ITA, they will give you a summary of evidence that they require to allow you to challenge the exam. I think it was evidence of 5 years of skilled work. Their approval took a month or two (early covid times). I would do this ASAP if your application is time sensitive.

Unlike the Nvq in the UK (assuming that's where you're from), the exam covers the full spectrum of carpentry, (footings, staircases, structural, finish, windows and doors, roofing and shingles etc).

While I was able to happily work day to day as a carpenter in Canada, since I could refer to specs to make sure I was working to code... Knowing these things off the top of your head is where the difficulty came in for me with the exam, since you have just over two minutes to answer each question (around 100 in total)... So one of the biggest peices of advice I could give would be to get a copy of the building code book beforehand (a copy of the relevant chapters will be provided in the exam), and get good at quickly navigating that book to find relevant info.

The building code can be downloaded free online.

There are refresher courses available if you google them which I imagine would be a huge help, however since everything was closed with covid at the time, and with the man who I was in contact with at the ITA being extremely helpful sending me a list of resources... I chose to self study.
If you send me your email, I can forward the info I have and some PDFs with the material I used to study if it's any help to you?

Best of luck, Joe

Richard_0404

Hey joe, well done on passing your exam and also first time! I’m challenging my hours at the moment, references have emailed back to them. Are you back in Canada?
rick

christmasoompa

I think he was in Canada at the time, already working there on an IEC visa according to his previous posts. The CofQ was for his PR app.

if you click on a username, you can select the option to view all of the members previous posts.

HTH.