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PEST CONTROL OFFICER (PCO) TRAINING
The standard for pesticide education, training, and certification in Canada was developed by pesticide regulatory and training officials from all ten provinces, territories and the Federal government. The standardized training program and pesticide applicator licensing serves to enhance reciprocal licensing between provinces and raise training standards for all pesticide applicators throughout Canada. The enabling legislation governing licensing is The Pest Control Products (Sask.) Act and The Pest Control Products Regulations, 1995. There are thirteen license categories. The three categories of interest to PCOs are the Structural, Agricultural and Rodent control licenses. You will study safety and personal protection, legislation relating to pest control, pests and their control, interpretation of pesticide labels and calculations related to pest control procedures.
SIAST offers training programs for pesticide applicators under all license categories. The Agricultural, Structural and Rodent Control licenses can be obtained through a one week course offered as a classroom session or by home study. The examination is open book and has a time limitation of 3 hours. A mark of at least 80% is required. Further details regarding Pesticide Applicator Training may be obtained by calling SIAST toll free at 1-866-467-4278. Once an interested person has completed the SIAST training program that person is required to obtain a license from Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Inquiries regarding licenses may be obtained by contacting Jude Kachaluba at 306-787-4662.
Another good tool for training is the Saskatchewan Pest Control Officers Association annual convention. It is where you can go to meet fellow colleagues and discuss issues pertaining to the job.
If you are a new PCO, contact the Pest Control Coordinators and they will set up a day of training with you to answer any questions you may have. It is also opportunity to obtain some credit for license recertification.
Description of the License Categories
- Agriculture - use of pesticides for the production of agricultural products, including, but not limited to berries, grains, forage crops, grapes, seed crops, ornamentals, tree seedlings, tree fruits and vegetables in fields, orchards or shelterbelts, and commercial seed treatments. This category includes control of noxious weeds, bird and rodent control, aquatic weed control in dugouts with no outflow, control of livestock and poultry pests (not animals), on-farm seed treatment and pest control around farm buildings associated with crop production. This category does not include pesticide use in greenhouses. People with a license in this category can only work on farms, not elevators, garbage dumps, cemeteries, etc.
- Structural - use of insecticides, rodenticides, avicides and repellants for the prevention or control of pests inside structures (excluding plant pests in greenhouses) or on exterior surfaces of structures. Also includes rodenticide use on public or private land.
- Rodent Control - use of rodenticides in or around buildings or structures for the control of rats and mice.
For more information - http://www.siast.sk.ca
Re-certification of Pesticide Applicator Training
Under this program, candidates must obtain re-certification by one of the following:
- successfully completing a re-certification exam;
- successfully completing a certification exam;
- taking an applicator course for that license category, and;
- successfully completing an exam, or obtaining 15 continuing education credits (CECs) in a continuing education program
The objective of this change is to recognize the value of ongoing training that is available to pest control professionals and use it as an alternative to examinations for re-certification.
Continuing education opportunities may include items such as pest control seminars, workshops, conferences, symposia, field demonstrations and courses relating to pest control. Normally re-certification credits will be assigned to the opportunities before the candidates participate in them. These credits are assigned by a committee made up of industry, SAF and SIAST. For example, generally, a one hour conference session or seminar would generate a maximum of 1 CEC.
In the case of events that do not have prior assignment of CECs the candidate will be required to contact the program administrator before ethe event to arrange for credit assignment. In some situations it may be possible to have credits assigned after an event if adequate documentation is provided.
The candidate is responsible to ensure that the required concepts and credits are obtained in the five year re-certification period. A maximum of 10 credits may be obtained in one year.
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