Does Your ETHOS Score Transfer Between B.C. Departments?

Short answer: it depends on the agency. Surrey states two years, Victoria three years and West Vancouver twelve months; Vancouver says it will consider a score on a written request; other agencies listed below state conditions of their own, or nothing publicly, which is not the same as having no rule. Confirm with the agency you are applying to.

If you’ve already written the ETHOS exam for one B.C. municipal police service, the natural next question is whether you need to write it again for another one. Several agencies say yes, your score can transfer. None of them say the same thing about how, and a few don’t address it at all. Treating this as one uniform rule is the mistake. The real answer depends entirely on which two agencies are involved. (New to the exam itself? See what is on the ETHOS exam and how it is marked.)

What each agency’s own page actually says

• Surrey Police Service: explicitly accepts ETHOS scores from other B.C. municipal agencies, valid for two years, with proof required alongside your application.
• Vancouver Police Department: its recruiting FAQ says it will consider written exam scores from other Lower Mainland police departments if you send a written request with confirmation of your score and the date you wrote the exam. It states no validity window, and says it does not accept POPAT scores from other departments.
• Delta Police Department: its own FAQ states that “Ethos exams written for a municipal police department would qualify for transferability,” but doesn’t publish a specific expiry window.
• Metro Vancouver Transit Police: a prior result “may be accepted,” in its own wording, to be submitted with your application. That’s not a guarantee, and its recruit page does not state a validity window. See the Metro Vancouver Transit Police guide for what it says about ETHOS, POPAT and reapplication.
• West Vancouver Police Department: accepts a score only if it was written within the preceding 12 months, the narrowest window of any agency that publishes one.
• Port Moody Police Department: scores from another department may transfer, but you need to sign a Consent to Collection and Disclosure form so the prior agency can release your result.
• Victoria Police Department: accepts a score from another B.C. agency, valid for three years, with a certificate included in your application.
• Saanich Police Department: its recruiting FAQ states “ETHOS results are valid for a period of 3 years and can be used with any Municipal Agency in British Columbia that uses ETHOS in their recruiting process.” The FAQ shows no date, so confirm it is current with the department.

If you don’t pass: what agencies say about writing again

This is a different question from transfer, and the wording matters. Each agency below says something specific about a second opportunity to write its exam, and each names the exam in its own words. Checked against each agency’s own page on 2026-09-28 (Saanich on 2026-10-01).

• Surrey Police Service (calls it the “Intake Exam”): “If you do not pass, you must wait six months to request a second opportunity to write the exam.”
• Delta Police Department (calls it the ETHOS exam): applicants who fail “must wait 6 months to request a second opportunity to write the exam. Each request will be considered on an individual basis.”
• Abbotsford Police Department (calls it the “AbbyPD Intake Exam”; its page does not use the name ETHOS): applicants who fail “must wait 6 months to request a second opportunity to write the exam, and each request will be considered on an individual basis.”
• West Vancouver Police Department (FAQ, “What will happen if I fail the intake Exam (ETHOS)?”): “After a 6 month wait time you can reapply and take the exam again.”
• Saanich Police Department (recruiting FAQ, read 2026-10-01; the FAQ shows no date): the structure differs from the others. “If unsuccessful after the first attempt, applicants will be invited for a second attempt. If unsuccessful after the second attempt, candidates will be required to wait a period of six months before rewriting.”

Why this varies so much

No official source found anywhere states a single body that owns or standardizes the ETHOS exam’s score-transfer rules across B.C. Each department appears to set its own acceptance policy and validity window for a score earned elsewhere. That’s consistent with how differently each agency also describes its own pass threshold: most publish 60%, but Victoria (70% or higher, on its own page) and Saanich (“70% or greater”, on its own FAQ) set the bar higher, and Delta distinguishes a 60% floor from a roughly 70% competitive result. There isn’t a single BC-wide standard to memorize. There’s a set of individual agency policies you need to check one at a time.

Do I need to rewrite the ETHOS exam for another agency?

• Before you rewrite anything, check. If you already have a passing ETHOS result, contact your target agency’s recruiting unit directly and ask whether they’ll accept it, and what documentation they need.
• Keep your original result. Several agencies ask for a certificate or documented proof, not just your word.
• Don’t assume a long shelf life. West Vancouver’s 12-month window is much shorter than Surrey’s two years or Victoria’s three. If time has passed since you wrote it, that alone might mean a rewrite regardless of which agency you’re applying to.
• If you’re applying to more than one agency at once, check each one’s transfer policy separately rather than assuming one answer covers all of them.

Applying outside B.C.? Other provinces and the RCMP use different tests; see the guide to police entrance tests across Canada.

What this article is not

This is a summary of what each agency’s own published page currently says, checked directly against those pages. It isn’t a guarantee that a specific agency will accept a specific score, and recruiting policies change. Confirm directly with your target agency before treating anything here as settled.