Launch of the Candidate Assessment Tool for second language evaluations (22-06)

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the official launch of the Candidate Assessment Tool (CAT) for second language evaluations as of October 3, 2022. The testing platform will enable departments and agencies to administer remote, unsupervised second language tests for reading comprehension and written expression. Test results will be managed centrally by the Public Service Commission (PSC), valid for 5 years, and portable across organizations.

The PSC will onboard organizations onto the platform between October 3, 2022, and December 15, 2022. Staffing support advisors have already reached out to organizations to share their onboarding date. Training material for test administrators (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) and information for candidates on using the platform and the unsupervised tests of reading comprehension and written expression are now available.

We will continue to make system enhancements in the next few months.

Until your organization is onboarded to the platform, these options for second language evaluation remain available:

• in-person testing using the Online Testing Facility (OLTF) in your organization’s own testing centre
• unsupervised internet tests within the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS)
• your own alternative assessment methods upon PSC authorization (refer to the recent letter to heads of human resources or contact your staffing support advisor for more information)  
• PSC test administration services using the Candidate Assessment Tool platform
• in-person testing at PSC test centres, with limited capacity, for testing requests that cannot be met through unsupervised testing services

For more information, please contact your staffing support advisor.

We value your collaboration in streamlining and modernizing second language evaluation.

Ravinder Rakhra
Vice-President
Services and Business Development Sector
Public Service Commission of Canada