Measure yourself Against the Gold Seal Standard

Measure yourself against theGold Seal standard

When you earn your Gold Seal Certified credential, you demonstrate excellence through certified experience and nationally-recognized validation of your skills, competence, and knowledge.

The Gold Seal Certification program certifies estimators, foremen, owner’s construction managers, project managers, safety practitioners and superintendents working in, or with, Canada’s non-residential construction industry.

The Gold Seal Certification program consults adult learning professionals, industry experts, and groups of volunteer industry practitioners to devise occupational profiles. These profiles define the knowledge, skills, and abilities that construction professionals working in Gold Seal designations should possess regardless of company field, size, or location.

“We recommend that potential applicants read the profile before applying to identify the areas they are less familiar with, or don’t currently perform,” says Chanel Roberts, CCA’s manager of education and Gold Seal Certification program. “There is a lot of variety from one company to another, different backgrounds, etc., so the applicants need to acquire these competencies through training, research, or discussing with colleagues and peers before taking the exam.”

The latest review concluded in September 2020 and resulted in updated occupational profiles, question banks, and sample questions for all designations. Some of the changes include:

• More granular details to capture a fuller range of tasks and activities;

• Some profiles (e.g. the superintendent) saw a significant increase in role requirements;

• Language was aligned with CCDC and industry standard terminology;

• Ethics competencies were developed for all occupational profiles and ethicsbased questions were added to all exams;

• The “construction safety coordinator” designation was renamed “construction safety practitioner” to better capture the breadth and higher expectations for the role.

“The importance of ethics cannot be overstated,” said Scott Mugridge, chair of the Gold Seal committee. “The Construction Industry Ethics course has been a mandatory requirement for all GSC applicants for a number of years. Adding ethics-related competencies and exam questions further highlights the behaviour that we want to see in the industry.”

Unlike some other types of certifications, you can’t become a GSC by reading a book. The Gold Seal exam tests the candidates against the knowledge, abilities, and skills defined in the occupational profile and the applicants answer the exam questions based on their experience and learning acquired through education and training.

The latest update round brought changes to the exams as well. The Gold Seal exams have been online for a few years already, requiring exam writers to use their own computers. While proctored at local construction associations in the past, due to COVID-19, exams are currently being written at the applicant’s home or in their office using our learning management system. The questions – between 150 and 180 depending on the designation – are multiple choice. Applicants are emailed their results within two weeks. Those who pass will receive their certificates in the mail, while those who do not pass receive a breakdown of how they did in different sections and can rewrite the exam for an additional fee.

This is a perfect time to learn more about the program and to see if you qualify. Visit goldsealcertification.com to register for our monthly webinar, review requirements, and to read up on the exam. The occupational profiles and sample questions can be found on the Gold Seal exam page. The Gold Seal team is only an email away if you have any questions – let us know at goldseal@cca-acc.com!