Certification to Practice

Once you’ve graduated from a recognized paramedic program in Ontario, you may apply to the Ministry of Health for your AEMCA or ACP certificate. With one of these certificates, you may apply for work as a paramedic at Ontario paramedic services.

In Ontario, every person who wishes to practice as a paramedic must be employed by a paramedic service. Once you have secured an employment offer, the paramedic service will request certification.

To practice as a paramedic in Eastern Ontario, Primary Care or Advanced Care Paramedics must be certified by the RPPEO.

If you change your level of competency, you will need to be certified in the new level before you begin using that scope of practice. A PCP who has trained as an ACP needs ACP certification before using the ACP scope of practice.

The RPPEO’s certification process for both PCP and ACP scopes of practice uses scenarios to test a paramedic’s knowledge and skills.

Once you successfully complete the RPPEO’s certification process, you will receive a Letter of Certification. This letter details the delegated controlled medical acts that the medical director authorizes you to use.

Paramedics in training who wish to undertake Delegated Medical Acts during preceptorship may be able to do so if their academic institution sponsors them in the Academic Certification process. Upon receipt of the college's request and with the agreement of the host paramedic service, the RPPEO may certify paramedics in training. Paramedics who receive this academic certification are supervised by a qualitied RPPEO certified paramedic. This is a special Academic Certification for training purposes for both PCP and ACP scopes of practice.

A college may request Academic Certification on behalf of a paramedic using the form below.

Paramedics currently certified by another Base Hospital in Ontario may apply for certification in Eastern Ontario through the Cross-Certification process. The RPPEO understands that training, skills and continuing education are quite similar across the province. The Provincial Patient Care Standards apply throughout Ontario. Paramedics already practicing elsewhere in Ontario may benefit from an expedited cross-certification if they wish to work for a paramedic service in the RPPEO’s coverage area. 

Paramedics who are licensed outside of Ontario must use the Ministry of Health’s Paramedic Equivalency Process in order to apply for an Ontario AEMCA or ACP certificate. Once you have obtained the certificate, if an employer in Eastern Ontario offers you employment you will enter the same certification process with the RPPEO as other paramedics at the PCP or ACP level.