Purpose

To inform drinking water and wastewater operators and water quality analysts (WQA) on the length of time an exam result is valid for the purposes of issuing a certificate or licence.

Context

To qualify for a certificate, an operator or water quality analyst must pass a certification exam. Exams are normally written when an operator has the qualifications to be certified. In some examples, an operator may write an exam prior to meeting other certificate or licence qualifications.

Policy

Each class and category of certificate/licence in Schedule 2 of Ontario Regulations 128/04 and 129/04, requires that a "person must have obtained a mark that the Director considers satisfactory in an examination approved by the Director relating to the functions performed by" [the operator].

In order to qualify to write the certification examination a drinking water or wastewater operator or water quality analyst must verify grade 12 or equivalent or have a certificate/licence one class lower than the exam he/she is writing.

An operator or water quality analyst may elect to write the examination prior to meeting other certification qualifications such as the experience or continuing education unit (CEU) requirements.

When a person passes an examination, the results will be valid for 5 years from the date of the exam. After 5 years, the results will no longer be considered an examination approved by the Director and the person must re-write the examination, in order to obtain an operator’s certificate/licence.

This guideline has no impact on operators who hold valid operator certificates/licences. There is no requirement for an operator to re-write an examination after 5 years, if the operator has maintained their operator certificate/licence.

Subsection 11(1) of Ontario Regulation 128/04 requires that a drinking water operator whose certificate has expired for greater than 1 year to meet the qualifications set out in Schedule 2 for that type and class of certificate. This includes the requirement to have obtained a mark that the Director considers satisfactory in an examination approved by the Director. Results from examinations written within 5 years of the application date and certificate payment will be considered an examination approved by the Director.