Police personnel and expenditures in Canada, 2018
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Description: Police personnel and expenditures in Canada, 2018
Police personnel and expenditures in Canada, 2018
As of May 15, 2018, there were 68,562 police officers in Canada, 463 fewer than in 2017. This represents a rate of police strength of 185 officers per 100,000 population, and marks a decline of 2% from the previous year. Footnote1
| Province | Number of police officers | Rate of police officers per 100,000 population | Change in rate from 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland & Labrador | 900 | 171 | -1% |
| Prince Edward Island | 216 | 141 | -4% |
| Nova Scotia | 1,860 | 194 | 1% |
| New Brunswick | 1,229 | 160 | -1% |
| Quebec | 15,884 | 189 | -1% |
| Ontario | 25,327 | 177 | -4% |
| Manitoba | 2,552 | 189 | -2% |
| Saskatchewan | 2,167 | 186 | -8% |
| Alberta | 7,510 | 174 | -1% |
| British Columbia | 9,246 | 185 | 2% |
| Yukon | 132 | 326 | 1% |
| Northwest Territories | 186 | 416 | 2% |
| Nunavut | 136 | 354 | -1% |
Police services across Canada in 2018
- 36 First Nations self-administered police services
- 141 Municipal stand-alone police services
- 3 Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) detachments
- 180 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachments
- 87 Sûreté du Québec (SQ) detachments
- 675 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachments
Calls for service
Across Canada, police services received 12.8 million calls for service.
Police personnel
- Police officers = 69%
- Civilians = 27%
- Special constables = 3%
- Recruits = 2%
Women in policing
- Percent of police officers: 78% male; 22% female
- There were 196 more female police officers than in 2017
- 15% of commissioned officers and 19% of non-commissioned officers are female
- Women accounted for 71% of civilian positions in police services
- 36% of special constables and 24% of recruits are female
8% of all police officers in Canada self-identified as belonging to a visible minority group.
4% of all police officers in Canada self-identified as Indigenous.
Police operating expenditures
Operating expenditures for policing reached $15.1 billion, up 3% from 2017.
| Salaries, wages and benefits (billions) | Operating expenditures (billions) | |
|---|---|---|
| Police operating expenditures | 12.4 | 2.7 |
Police operating and capital expenditures
Police services across Canada spent $380.0 million on Information Technology (IT) operations and $284.2 million on police equipment:
- Radios: $193.0 million
- Software, applications and computer systems: $146.7 million
- Other telecommunication devices: $85.4 million
- Computers and hardware: $77.7 million
The average police officer salary in 2018 was just over $99,000.
Note: Data on police personnel, women in policing, visible minority, Indigenous people are based on a "snapshot date" of May 15, 2018, while the other data on this infographic represent the calendar year ending December 31, 2017 (or March 31, 2018 as some police services operate on a fiscal year basis). Percentages may not add up due to rounding.
Definitions for the different police personnel and police services used in this infographic, can be found on the Juristat article.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Police Administration Survey, 2018 "Police resources in Canada, 2018". Juristat. Statistics Canada Catalogue no 85-002-X
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