Police resources in Canada, 2018

by Patricia Conor, Jodi Robson and Sharon Marcellus, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics

Release date: October 3, 2019
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Highlights

Police expenditures increased while police strength decreased in Canada in 2017-2018

  • Operating expenditures for policing reached $15.1 billion in 2017/2018. After accounting for inflation, total operating expenditures rose by 2% from the previous year, and have generally been on the increase since 1996/1997.
  • As of May 15, 2018, there were 68,562 police officers in Canada, a decrease of 463 from 2017, representing a rate of police strength of 185 officers per 100,000 population, a decline of 2% from the previous year (189 officers per 100,000 in 2017).
  • As in previous years, salaries, wages and benefits were the largest cost to police services, accounting for 82% of operating expenditures in 2017/2018, or $12.5 billion. The average salary for police officers in Canada that year was $99,298.
  • In 2017/2018, police services spent $380.0 million on Information Technology (IT) operations and $284.2 million on police equipment. More specifically, some of the most costly items for police were radios ($193.0 million); software, applications and computer systems ($146.7 million); other telecommunication devices ($85.4 million), and computers and hardware ($77.7 million).

Canada’s police force is changing in numbers and demographics

  • On May 15, 2018, there were 196 more female police officers in Canada. The 14,943 female officers in that year accounted for 22% of all police officers. The representation of women as police officers has been steadily increasing since 1986 when data on gender were first collected and women represented 4% of officers.
  • On May 15, 2018, 4% of police officers and 3% of recruits identified as Indigenous. On that same day, 8% of officers and 12% of recruits in Canada self-identified as belonging to a visible minority group.
  • The proportion of officers in the older age groups has been increasing since 2012, when age data were first collected. Officers over the age of 50 accounted for 18% of officers in 2018 compared to 15% in 2012.
  • In 2017/2018, 7,416 police officers, or 11%, were eligible to retire, with unrestricted pension based on age or years of service.
  • In addition to sworn officers, police services employed the equivalent of 31,050 full-time individuals on May 15, 2018, 7% more than in 2017. This consisted of 26,851 civilian personnel, 2,539 special constables and 1,660 recruits. The number of these civilians in policing has been steadily on the rise since 1962.
  • Women accounted for 71% of civilian personnel within police services, 36% of special constables and 24% of recruits. In terms of civilian positions, women accounted for anywhere from 91% of clerical staff to 24% of vehicle maintenance personnel.
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Canadian police services are mandated with the essential task of administering and maintaining law and order across Canada and ensuring public safety. Within this realm, the roles and responsibilities of police services have changed over time, creating new challenges in areas such as crime prevention, law enforcement, public assistance, maintenance of public order and responding to emergencies (Council of Canadian Academies 2014; Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security 2014). Police services are one of the first responders to mental health calls, drug crises, suicides, disturbances, motor vehicle accidents and many other community well-being and safety issues that may not be criminal (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police 2015). These calls, along with responding to crime, require an abundance of police resources. Data from Statistics Canada’s Police Administration Survey (PAS) provides insight into Canada’s police personnel and expenditures. Since 1962, it has been the source for information on police administration for the policing community, governing bodies and policy makers, and the general public.

Tracking police strength and composition over time through the PAS helps Canada monitor the changing trends in human resources, the cost-drivers for policing and the increasing demands on police services as they promote and protect public safety. The new version of the PAS was launched in April 2018 and collected new information on police resources that will serve as indicators within the new Canadian Police Performance Metrics Framework (CPPMF) (Mazowita and Rotenberg 2019).

This Juristat article will report on the data from this redesigned survey by including trend analysis of key indicators such as police strength, as well as new information on civilians and special constables and their duties and functions; full and part-time positions; long-term leave; salaries, wages and benefits; and detailed breakdowns of operating expenditures and capital expenditures.Note 

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Text box 1
Types of police services in Canada

Police services vary throughout regions of Canada. As a result, they may have different mandates, serve different sizes of population, be presented with different community circumstances and operational requirements, all of which may affect their resources and expenditures.

Policing in Canada is administered on three levels: municipal, provincial, and federal. In 2018, at the municipal level, there were 141 stand-alone police services and 36 First Nations self-administered services. Self-administered First Nations police services are created under agreements between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments along with the communities looking to administer their own police service, under a cost-sharing agreement between the federal government (52%) and provincial/territorial governments (48%) (Kiedrowski et al. 2013). The communities are responsible for governing the police service through a police board, band council, or other authority (Lithopoulos and Ruddell 2013).

There are three provinces that provide provincial police services. The provincial police service of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) is responsible to provide police services to St. John's, Corner Brook and Labrador West. The other two provincial services—Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and Sûreté du Québec (SQ)—are responsible for serving communities in those provinces without stand-alone municipal forces. They are also responsible for provincial highways and other areas under provincial jurisdiction.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) provides provincial, municipal, rural and First Nations policing (where self-administered police services have not been established). The RCMP is also responsible for all federal policing matters such as serious and organized crime and financial crime, as well as specialized policing services such as the Canadian Firearms Program and the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.

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Operating expenditures on policing rose 2%, reaching $15.1 billion in 2017/2018

Across Canada, the 2017/2018 total operating expenditures for all police services amounted to $15.1 billion in current dollars (Table 1).Note  These expenditures comprise salaries and wages (66%), benefits (15%), and other operating expenditures (18%).Note  Historically, these proportions have remained relatively consistent. In addition, in 2017/2018, policing spent over $666 million in capital expendituresNote  on items such as vehicle and/or police equipment purchases, new buildings, and information technology (IT) operations.

After accounting for inflation, total operating expenditures rose by 2% from the previous year, and have generally been on the increase since 1996/1997Note  (Table 1). While total spending in Quebec remained relatively stable, the other provinces and territories reported increases in total operating expenditures from the previous year. The largest increases were seen in Nunavut (+14%), British Columbia (+13%), Nova Scotia (+13%) and Saskatchewan (+12%) (Table 2).

On a per capita basis for Canada, using constant dollars, policing operating expenditures amounted to a cost of $318 per person in 2017/2018. This represents the highest per capita cost since 2012/2013 (Chart 1; Table 1).

Chart 1 start

Chart 1 Police expenditures per capita, current dollars and constant dollars, Canada, 1987/1988 to 2017/2018

Data table for Chart 1 
Data table for Chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 1. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Current dollars and Constant dollars, calculated using dollars–per capita expenditures units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Current dollars Constant dollars
dollars–per capita expenditures
1987/1988 152 222
1988/1989 164 230
1989/1990 172 230
1990/1991 189 242
1991/1992 194 234
1992/1993 202 240
1993/1994 202 236
1994/1995 199 233
1995/1996 197 225
1996/1997 198 222
1997/1998 200 222
1998/1999 206 226
1999/2000 210 226
2000/2001 222 232
2001/2002 234 240
2002/2003 250 250
2003/2004 263 256
2004/2005 274 262
2005/2006 288 269
2006/2007 303 278
2007/2008 321 288
2008/2009 344 302
2009/2010 366 320
2010/2011 372 319
2011/2012 377 315
2012/2013 390 321
2013/2014 388 316
2014/2015 392 313
2015/2016 398 314
2016/2017 406 316
2017/2018 414 318

Chart 1 end

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Text box 2
Personnel in police services

There are many positions within police services, both uniform and civilian, that are needed for a police service to meet its mandate and objectives. Most police services consist of sworn police officers, civilian personnel, special constables and/or recruits. The following provides the standard definitions used by PAS to collect information on police personnel in Canada.

Sworn officers consist of commissioned, non-commissioned and constables.

Commissioned officers include personnel who have obtained senior officer status, normally at the rank of lieutenant or higher, such as chief, deputy chiefs, staff superintendents, superintendents, staff inspectors, inspectors, senior constables, lieutenants, and other equivalent ranks.

Non-Commissioned officers include personnel between the ranks such as corporal sergeant majors, sergeant majors, staff sergeant majors, staff sergeants, sergeants, corporals and other equivalent ranks.

Constables consist of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th class constables.

Civilian personnel are employees of the police service paid from the police service budget who are not police officers, special constables, or recruits. Their roles could include reception services, financial services, human resources, public and media relations, court services, legal services, custody and detention services, information technology services, vehicle and facility services, research, forensics, clerical, communication and other duties that aid the core function of the police service.

Special constables are appointed civilians who have conferred the powers of a police officer, to the extent and for the specific purpose set out in the appointment. Their roles could include traffic control duties, court security, prisoner transport, by-law, and parking enforcement.

Recruits i.e., police officers in training: the definition and terminology used to describe a recruit varies depending on the police service type and geographic location. For the purposes of this survey, recruits are personnel engaged in police officer training programs intended to enable them to achieve the status of a fully-sworn police officer.

Total personnel includes all sworn police officers, civilian personnel, special constables and recruits.

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In 2017/2018, average salary for a police officer in Canada was just over $99,000

Salaries, wages and benefits are the largest cost in policing, accounting for 82% of operating expenditures. Of the $12.5 billion in wage and benefits paid by police services in 2017/2018, 77% was for police officers, 20% for civilians, 2% for special constables and 1% for recruits.

In 2017/2018, the average salary for a police officer,Note  including commissioned, non–commissioned and constables, in Canada was $99,298 (Text box 2).Note  Overtime pay ($665 million) comprised 7% of police officer pay while court, specialist and statutory holiday pay accounted for 3% ($304 million).

The highest average police officer salary was reported by the OPP at $102,821, followed closely by large municipal police services that serve a population of 100,000 or more ($101,112) and small to medium municipal police services ($99,931).Note  The RCMP reported an average salary of $99,082, slightly below the national average (Chart 2).

Chart 2 start

Chart 2 Average salary, different types of personnel, by level of policing, 2018

Data table for Chart 2 
Data table for Chart 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 2 Police officers, Civilians and Special constables, calculated using dollars units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Police officers Civilians Special constables
dollars
First Nations 88,394 55,600 56,954
Municipals 100,962 77,473 61,970
Ontario Provincial Police 102,821 92,081 95,744
Royal Canadian Mounted Police 99,082 69,766 92,631
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary 88,419 57,431 Note ...: not applicable
Sûreté du Québec 87,245 61,037 Note ...: not applicable

Chart 2 end

Within the RNC and First Nation police services, average police officer salaries while similar and were below the national average ($88,419 and $88,394 respectively). Police officers within the SQ reported the lowest average police salary at $87,245.

OPP also reported the highest average civilian personnel salaryNote  ($92,081) and the highest average special constable salary ($95,744). Large municipal police services had an average salary for civilian personnel of $78,684 which was above Canada’s average of $74,012. First Nations police services and RCMP reported an average salary for civilian personnel below the national average, respectively $55,600 and $69,766.

The average salary for special constablesNote  showed a range from $56,954 in First Nations police services to $95,744 within the OPP.

Police services spent $380.0 million on IT in 2017/2018

Police services encountered other cost-drivers associated with their budget beside salaries, wages and benefits. In 2017/2018, Canada’s police services spent $380.0 million on Information Technology (IT) operations and $284.2 million on police equipment from either their non–salary operating budgets or their capital expenditure budgets.Note 

Based on information available nationally, for the first time, some of the largest cost-drivers for Canada’s police services in 2017/2018 included the costNote  of radios ($193.0 million); software, applications and computer systems ($146.7 million); other telecommunication devices ($85.4 million), and computers and hardware ($77.7 million). These amounts lend insight into the cost pressures facing police services across Canada.

Police responded to 12.8 million calls for service in 2017/2018

A large proportion of police work involves responding to non-criminal events that are related to public safety and well-being. These events are called “calls for service”. It has been estimated that 50% to 80% of the calls police respond to are in fact non-criminal in nature and comprise incidents such as alarms, disturbances, domestic disputes, traffic accidents, sick or injured persons, overdoses and mental health-related calls (Mazowita and Rotenberg 2019). These calls can have a notable impact on police workload and resources and are not measured or reflected in annual crime statistics as they are not “criminal incidents”. Statistics Canada has been working with the policing community and other partners to build a national program to collect detailed information on calls for service in order to help understand the impact of these calls has on police forces and to monitor emerging social issues, for example increased uses of harmful drugs.

In 2017/2018 police services across Canada received 12.8 million calls for service.Note  The municipal police services reported 67% of the calls for service, while RCMP accounted for 21% followed by provincial police (11%) and First Nations police services (1%).Note  When accounting for population served, municipal police services received 36,813 calls per 100,000 population, compared to a rate of 36,031 for OPP, 34,359 for RCMP, 19,605 for SQ and 16,929 for RNC. Among First Nations police services, officers responded to 85,780 calls per 100,000 population.

Police services were proactive in preparing for the legalization of cannabis in 2017/2018

On October 17, 2018, the Cannabis Act came into effect. It provides the legal framework for the legalization and regulation of the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis in Canada. In the same year, new legislation on impaired driving (Bill C-46) was also enacted in order to strengthen the Criminal Code provisions related to driving while impaired by alcohol and drugs (including cannabis).

Data from the new PAS indicate that, in the year prior to legalization of cannabis, police were proactively preparing for this significant change in law enforcement.

In 2017/2018, police services spent $5.8 million and approximately 64,700 officer training hours to prepare for the legalization of cannabis. The amount spent on salary dollars accounted for 93% of total spending, and includes regular and overtime pay for tasks such as training, research, and developing or implementing changes related to the proposed legalization. With respect to drug-impaired driving, police services are implicated in providing and taking training on standardized field sobriety testing, increasing the number of certified drug recognition experts, purchasing oral fluid screening devicesNote  and providing the community with clear information on the legalization of cannabis.

Police services reported they had received $7.7 million in funding from various sources in 2017/2018 related to cannabis legalization.Note  At the time the survey was collected, the majority of this funding was reported by the RCMP. This is likely because the distribution of federal funding to support police services to prepare for the legalization of cannabis and to support the changes to impaired driving laws began in 2018/2019.

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Text box 3
Canadians reported a high level of trust and confidence in police

Trust and confidence are key elements for any public institution to successfully serve the people for which it has been established. For police to carry out their mandate to serve and protect, trust and confidence is required (Giacomantonio and Savoie 2019). According to results from the most recent General Social Survey on Victimization, Canadians have a high level of confidence in police and the majority believe police were doing a good job at being approachable and easy to talk to (73%), ensuring the safety of citizens (70%), promptly responding to calls (68%), treating people fairly (68%), enforcing the laws (65%), and providing information on crime prevention (62%) (Cotter 2015). To enhance and continue to foster a cohesive relationship with Canada's growing and diverse population, Canadian police services are working to measure the public's trust and confidence in their ability to serve and protect (Kiedrowski et al. 2013).

Monitoring trust and confidence in policing is so key to policing that it comprises one of the pillars of the new Canadian Police Performance Metrics Framework. The performance metrics are comprised of measures of Canadians' trust, confidence in, and perceptions of police, as well as measures of public engagement, legitimacy, and the degree to which police services are seen as meeting the needs of their respective communities (Mazowita and Rotenberg 2019). To support police services and Canadian institutions in measuring trust and confidence in a comparable, meaningful way, Public Safety Canada, in partnership with Halifax Regional Police and in consultations with experts and members of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, developed a set of survey instruments to measure trust and confidence in police. The questions collect information on the public's attitude towards the police while ensuring representation across demographics and cultural diversity of the Canadian people and became available in 2019 for police services to use (Giacomantonio and Savoie 2019).

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The rate of police strength has been declining in Canada since 2011

As of May 15, 2018, there were 68,562 police officers in Canada, a decrease of 463 from 2017 (Table 3). This represents a rate of police strengthNote  of 185 officers per 100,000 population, a decline of 2% from the previous year (189 officers per 100,000 in 2017).Note  The rate of police strength has been declining since 2011 and 2018 marks the lowest rate since 2001 (184) (Chart 3).

Chart 3 start

Chart 3 Rate of police officers and civilian personnel per 100,000 population, Canada, 1962 to 2018

Data table for Chart 3 
Data table for Chart 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 3. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Police officers and Civilians, calculated using police and civilians per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Police officers Civilians
police and civilians per 100,000 population
1962 141 31
1963 144 31
1964 149 35
1965 154 36
1966 160 38
1967 166 39
1968 169 40
1969 173 43
1970 178 47
1971 183 48
1972 186 53
1973 192 55
1974 199 53
1975 206 60
1976 206 61
1977 206 64
1978 203 66
1979 202 62
1980 203 67
1981 204 69
1982 201 71
1983 197 68
1984 195 68
1985 195 69
1986 197 70
1987 199 74
1988 199 72
1989 199 72
1990 202 70
1991 203 69
1992 201 71
1993 198 70
1994 193 67
1995 188 66
1996 183 66
1997 183 66
1998 182 64
1999 182 66
2000 182 65
2001 184 64
2002 186 66
2003 188 68
2004 187 70
2005 189 73
2006 192 73
2007 195 77
2008 196 77
2009 200 80
2010 203 80
2011 202 82
2012 200 81
2013 197 79
2014 194 80
2015 193 79
2016 191 79
2017 189 80
2018 185 84

Chart 3 end

Excluding officers involved in RCMP corporate duties (i.e., assigned to RCMP’s operation and corporate headquarters, training academy Depot division and forensic labs), the provincial and territorial rate of police strength was 182 police officers per 100,000 population in 2018 (Table 4). Throughout the country’s provinces, the rate of police strength ranged from 141 officers per 100,000 in Prince Edward Island to 194 officers per 100,000 population in Nova Scotia. As in 2017, the following five provinces reported a rate of police strength greater than the provincial and territorial rate in 2018: Nova Scotia (194), Quebec (189), Manitoba (189), Saskatchewan (186) and British Columbia (185) (Chart 4). All three territories remained above the provincial and territorial rate (Table 4).

Chart 4 start

Chart 4 Rate of police strength, by province and territory, 2018

Data table for Chart 4 
Data table for Chart 4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 4. The information is grouped by Province and territory (appearing as row headers), Police officers per 100,000 population and Provincial and territorial total, calculated using police officers per 100,000 population units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Province and territory Police officers per 100,000 population Provincial and territorial total
N.L. 171 182
P.E.I.. 141 182
N.S. 194 182
N.B. 160 182
Que. 189 182
Ont. 177 182
Man. 189 182
Sask. 186 182
Alta. 174 182
B.C. 185 182
Y.T. 326 182
N.W.T. 416 182
Nvt. 354 182

Chart 4 end

In 2018, there were 50 stand-alone municipal police services or municipalities policed by the RCMP that served a population greater than 100,000.Note  Of these police services, 14 saw an increase in their rate of police strength from the previous year, 31 saw a decrease, and 3 police services had no notable change in 2018.Note Note  The largest increases in the rate of police strength were seen in Richmond, British Columbia (+10%), Kelowna, British Columbia (+9%), Longueuil, Quebec (+7%) and Codiac Regional, New Brunswick (+6%). The police services of Calgary, Alberta (-11%), and Toronto, Ontario (-8%) reported the largest decreases in the rate of police strength (Table 5).

Of these 50 police services, the police service with the highest rate of police strength was Montréal (223 per 100,000). From 2008 to 2018, Montréal reported the highest rate of police strength except in 2012 and 2013 when Victoria had the highest rate. In 2018, the second highest rate of police strength was Victoria (215),Note  followed by Vancouver (198), Thunder Bay (190), Edmonton (187), Windsor (185) and Winnipeg (184) (Table 5).

Meanwhile, the lowest rates of municipal police strength were all found in the province of Quebec: Richelieu Saint Laurent (100 per 100,000 population), Roussillon Region (104) and Lévis (106) (Table 5).

Consistent with previous years, over half of police officers (56% or 38,459) were employed by stand-alone municipal police services which included 905 officers serving with First Nations self-administered police services. In addition, 19% of all police officers in Canada were employed by RCMP in contract policing. Police officers employed by the OPP and the SQ each accounted for 8% of the total police officers in Canada, while officers employed in RCMP’s federal policing accounted for 6%. Those employed within the RCMP’s operation and corporate headquarters, training academy Depot division and forensic labs accounted for 2% and the remaining 1% of police officers in Canada were members of RNC (Table 4).

Constables accounted for seven out of ten police officers in 2018

Of the police officers in Canada on May 15, 2018, 69% were constables, and an additional 26% were non-commissioned officers, meaning corporal sergeant majors, sergeant majors, staff-sergeant majors, staff sergeants, sergeants, corporals and other equivalent ranks. The remaining 5% were commissioned officers, which are those who have obtained senior status, normally at the rank of lieutenant or higher, such as chiefs, deputy chiefs, captains, staff superintendents, superintendents, staff inspectors and inspectors.Note  These proportions have been relatively consistent going back to 1986.

While the OPP, the RCMP and municipal stand-alone police services are structured much like the national portrait, structures in the RNC and the SQ are different. The RNC comprised of a greater proportion of constables (80%) and has fewer officers in the higher ranks (16% are non-commissioned and 4% are commissioned officers). The SQ, on the other hand, reported a lower proportion of constables (60%) and greater proportion of officers among the higher ranks, with non-commissioned officers accounting for 34% of officers and 6% of commissioned officers.

The top four positionsNote  among commissioned police officers in 2018 were inspectors (30% of commissioned officers), senior constables (29%), superintendents (10%) and commissioned lieutenants (9%). While 58% of non-commissioned officers were sergeants, 21% were corporals and 13% were staff sergeants (Chart 5).

Chart 5 start

Chart 5 Officer ranks as a proportion of total police officers, Canada, 2018

Data table for Chart 5 
Data table for Chart 5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 5. The information is grouped by Rank/Position (appearing as row headers), Percent (appearing as column headers).
Rank/Position Percent
Total police officers
Constables 69
Commissioned 5
Non-commissioned 26
Commissioned police officers
Inspectors 30
Senior constables 29
Superintendents 10
Commissioned lieutenants 9
Other commissioned 23
Non-commissioned police officers
Sergeants 58
Corporals 21
Staff sergeants 13
Other non-commissioned 8

Chart 5 end

The number of female officers in all ranks continues to grow

On May 15, 2018, there were 14,943 female police officers in Canada, an increase of 196 officers compared to the previous year. Female officers accounted for 22% of total sworn officers in 2018, a proportion that has steadily been increasing since data collection began in 1986 when women accounted for just under 4% of all officers.

Across the different officer ranks, female police personnel mostly occupied constable positions, making up 23% of constables in Canada. Although women make up a smaller proportion of commissioned and non-commissioned officers, their presence in these roles continues to increase. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of female commissioned officers increased from 509 to 556, accounting for 15% of commissioned officers in 2018. This marks the highest proportion of female commissioned officers since collection began in 1986. Meanwhile, there were 3,435 female non-commissioned officers in Canada, an increase of 131 compared to 2017. Non-commissioned female officers accounted for 19% of non-commissioned officers in Canada, which has increased steadily in the last 15 years when women represented 8% in 2003 (Chart 6).

Chart 6 start

Chart 6 Female officers as a percentage of total police officers, by rank, Canada, 1988 to 2018

Data table for Chart 6 
Data table for Chart 6
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 6. The information is grouped by Year (appearing as row headers), Female commissioned, Female non-commissioned, Female constables and Female total officers, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Year Female commissioned Female non-commissioned Female constables Female total officers
percent
1988 0.16 0.80 7.00 5.08
1989 0.31 1.12 7.91 5.80
1990 0.38 1.26 8.60 6.38
1991 0.42 1.35 9.47 6.98
1992 0.75 1.59 10.16 7.52
1993 1.25 1.80 10.78 8.02
1994 1.32 2.20 12.02 9.05
1995 1.58 2.73 12.81 9.78
1996 1.73 3.01 13.46 10.37
1997 2.06 3.44 14.28 11.13
1998 2.17 3.91 15.52 12.21
1999 2.76 4.73 16.24 12.93
2000 3.10 5.45 17.01 13.67
2001 3.45 6.33 17.77 14.49
2002 3.97 7.08 18.58 15.26
2003 4.65 7.71 19.09 15.74
2004 5.18 8.86 19.76 16.49
2005 5.48 9.68 20.67 17.33
2006 6.06 10.85 21.11 17.95
2007 7.21 11.99 21.46 18.51
2008 7.75 13.34 21.24 18.70
2009 8.28 14.40 21.39 19.07
2010 8.66 15.14 21.37 19.23
2011 9.50 15.82 21.59 19.60
2012 9.95 16.38 21.77 19.90
2013 10.44 17.06 21.91 20.21
2014 10.89 17.59 22.19 20.57
2015 12.39 18.05 22.32 20.84
2016 13.22 18.22 22.61 21.14
2017 14.53 18.66 22.87 21.36
2018 15.35 19.28 23.24 21.79

Chart 6 end

Among commissioned police personnel, women were most highly represented as superintendents, accounting for 20% of officers in that rank.Note  Meanwhile, among non-commissioned officer ranks, women were most highly represented among corporals, accounting for 22%.

For the second consecutive year, the RNC reported the highest proportion of female officers at 29%, followed by the SQ (23%). The OPP, the RCMP and all municipal police services each reported 22% of their officers as female. Of the 905 officers employed in First Nations self-administered services, there were 128 female officers, accounting for 14% of total officers in these services.

Of the 50 municipal police services serving a population of 100,000 or more, the highest proportion of female officers were all found in police services in the province of Quebec. Longueuil had the highest proportion with 34% of officers being female, followed by Montréal (33%). There were twenty-four, police services that reported rates of female officers equal to or above the national average of 22%.Note  Another twenty-four of those 50 municipal police services were found to be below the national average, with the lowest in Brantford, Ontario at 13% (Table 5).

8% of police officers identified as visible minority

Individuals that identified as belonging to the visible minority population as defined by Employment Equity ActNote  represented 22% of Canada’s population, according to the 2016 Census. In 2018, 8% of all police officers and 12% of recruits in Canada self-identified as belonging to a visible minority group. Visible minority officers were most prevalent in First Nation police services (19%), the RCMP (11%) and stand-alone municipals (8%).

Among the largest stand-alone municipal police services,Note  relatively high rates of visible minority officers were reported by Toronto Police Service (25%), Vancouver Police Department (25%) and Peel Regional Police Service (20%), according to the survey.Note  However, these rates were lower than the proportion of individual reporting as belonging to a visible minority group in the same cities in the 2016 Census. According to the Census, 51% of Toronto’s population belongs to a visible minority group, as does 48% of Vancouver’s population and 62% of Peel’s.Note  One third of Montréal’s population belongs to a visible minority group, the same was true for 8% of the Montréal police service’s officers.

4% of police officers identified as Indigenous

Based on the 2016 Census, it was estimated that there were 1,673,785 Indigenous peoples in Canada, accounting for 5% of the population.Note  Of the total number of police officers on May 15, 2018, 4% (or 2,829) reported their identity as Indigenous and 3% of recruits self-identified as Indigenous. In Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, the representation of Indigenous police officers is relatively close to the proportion of the Indigenous population for those provinces. Compared to representation in the general population, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia had a larger proportion of officers identifying as Indigenous. The remaining provinces had a lower proportion of Indigenous officers compared to the proportion of Indigenous peoples in the total provincial population.Note 

Within First Nation police services, 62% of police officers self-identified as Indigenous. The proportion of Indigenous officers in stand-alone municipals, OPP, RCMP and SQ ranged from 1% to 8%.Note 

Overall proportion of officers aged 50 and older has grown

Succession planning in the workforce and understanding the number of employees at risk of leaving are key to ensuring sufficient resources in coming years. In 2018, 55% of Canada's police officers were over the age of 40 (Chart 7). The proportion of officers in the older age categories has been increasing since 2012, when age data were first collected. For instance, the proportion of police officers over the age of 50 has grown from 15% in 2012 to 18% in 2018.

Chart 7 start

Chart 7 Age distribution of police officers, by level of policing, 2018

Data table for Chart 7 
Data table for Chart 7
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 7. The information is grouped by Age (appearing as row headers), Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, Sûreté du Québec , Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Municipals, First Nations and Canada, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Age Royal Canadian Mounted Police Ontario Provincial Police Sûreté du
Québec
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Municipals First Nations Canada
percent
Under 30 11.7 8.5 13.3 21.4 11.6 26.4 11.8
30 to 39 35.5 27.1 33.6 39.1 32.7 30.7 33.1
40 to 49 35.3 39.7 31.7 21.1 38.0 28.5 36.7
50 to 54 11.4 17.2 12.7 11.2 12.3 7.3 12.4
55 and older 6.0 7.5 5.1 7.3 5.2 5.9 5.7

Chart 7 end

The age profile of officers varied among the different types of police services. The age profile of police officers among the RCMP, the SQ, and municipal police services are relatively close to that of the national profile. For the OPP, however, 25% of sworn officers were aged 50 years or older (Chart 7). In contrast, First NationsNote  police services have a much younger complement of officers, with just 13% of the sworn officers aged 50 years or older.

In addition, 11% of police officers in Canada, or 7416, were eligible to retire as of the 2017 calendar year or the 2017/2018 fiscal year end (Table 6). Within the different types of policing services across Canada, First Nation police services had the lowest percentage of police officers eligible to retire at 4% and the RNC the highest rate with 18%.

Civilians in policing continued to grow, increasing 7% in 2018

Police services are increasingly made up of civilian members such as clerks, communications staff, managers, and other professionals. This increase in civilian membership is referred to as civilianization. Civilianization is "the practice of assigning non-sworn employees to conduct police work that does not require the authority, special training, or credibility of a sworn police officer" (Griffiths et al. 2006). It has been argued that through redistributing duties to civilian members, effectiveness and economic efficiency may be increased (Griffiths et al. 2014). At the same time, caution has been expressed that civilianization be implemented in a way which is mindful of the duties requiring sworn officers while ensuring the police service and the work environment benefit (Morrell 2014; Peak 2010).

In addition to sworn officers, police services employed the equivalent of 31,050 full-time individuals on May 15, 2018 (Table 3). This consisted of 26,851 civilian personnel (86%), 2,539 special constables (8%) and 1,660 recruits (5%).Note  Special constables are civilian personnel who have been appointed with special constable status which gives limited authority as a police officer for a specific purpose defined in the appointment.

The number of full-time equivalent personnel in these roles grew by 1,998 or 7% over the previous year and has been steadily on the rise since data collection began in 1962. At that time, employees who were not sworn officers represented 18% of total police service personnel, compared to 31% in 2018.

The RCMP had the highest proportion of civilians and special constables among the different types of police services, making up 36% of their total personnel.Note  Civilians and special constables made up 27% of municipal police services’ entire personnel, 25% of OPP’s personnel and 24% within the SQ. Both the RNC and First NationsNote  police services reported 20% of their total personnel as civilian and special constables (Chart 8).

Chart 8 start

Chart 8 Proportion of police personnel, by level of policing, 2018

Data table for Chart 8 
Data table for Chart 8
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 8 Police officers, Civilians, Special constables and Recruits, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Police officers Civilians Special constables Recruits
percent
First Nations 77.0 18.5 1.4 3.1
Municipals 70.8 23.4 4.1 1.7
Ontario Provincial Police 73.2 21.9 3.3 1.6
Royal Canadian Mounted Police 62.1 35.7 0.4 1.9
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary 76.8 20.2 0.0 3.0
Sûreté du Québec 75.7 23.9 0.0 0.4

Chart 8 end

Women accounted for seven in ten civilians working in police services

As of May 15, 2018, women accounted for 71% of civilian personnel within police services, 36% of special constables and 24% of recruits. Based on police services other than the RCMP,Note  women were predominantly seen in the following civilian positions: clerical, reception and front desk services, court services, finances, human resources, legal services and operational communications (Chart 9).Note  Women were also visible in non-traditional positions such as research, custody and forensics. Overall, women accounted for anywhere from 91% of clerical staff to 24% of vehicle maintenance personnel.

Chart 9 start

Chart 9 Proportion of males and females, by civilian roles, Canada, 2018

Data table for Chart 9 
Data table for Chart 9
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 9 Male and Female , calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Male Female
percent
Reception 17 83
Finances 18 82
Human resources 19 81
Public relations 35 65
Court services 17 83
Legal services 23 77
Custody and detention 48 52
IT services 65 35
Vehicle and facility 76 24
Research and analysis 27 73
Forensics 45 55
Clerical support 9 91
Operational communication 25 75
Total 28 72

Chart 9 end

Excluding the RCMP,Note  the top five duties and functions of all civilian personnel in policing were clerical (27%), operational communication (20%), information technology (9%), vehicle and facility services (6%) and reception and front desk services (6%).Note 

Municipal police services had the greatest proportion of special constables

As the demand on police services continues to expand, some police services have been employing special constables to re-distribute some tasks. Special constables take on duties such as traffic control, court services, prisoner transport and other duties that help support core functions within the police service.

Eight in ten of the 2,539 special constables in Canada were located in stand-alone municipal police services. The largest number of full-time equivalent special constables were reported by Toronto Police Service (942), Peel Regional Police Service (95) and Montréal Police Service (91). Across stand-alone municipal police services, 56% of special constables performed duties in the area of court services, 25% in custody and detention services, and 15% in other unspecified areas.Note 

Part-time positions very rare among officers

A challenge for modern policing is the 24/7 demands of police work and the ability to respond to requests for part-time hours and leave. With the retirement of baby boomer police officers, newer generations of officers are seeking greater work / life balance due to changes in work culture and the desire to accommodate today’s family model of double income and shared parental responsibilities (CBC News 2012). As well, with the recognition of the physical and mental hazards of policing comes the recognition of the need to accommodate those impacted by the high stress environment of policing (Roufa 2018; Ahlgren 2017).

Part-time officers are a rare occurrence in Canada. In 2018, there were 226 permanent part-time officers, accounting for less than half of one percent of officers.Note  The presence of part-time workers was more prevalent in civilian positions. Among civilian personnel, 6% were employed on a permanent part-time basis. Further, 18% of all civilians held non-permanent positions.

Women accounted for 64% of part-time positions and 47% of non-permanent positions.

The largest percentage of police officers on long-term leave are on medical leave

In Canada, there were 5,116 permanent employees among police services who were on authorized leave of 12 weeks or more during the year 2017/2018, which represented 5% of all personnel.Note  Among these employees, 65% were permanent police officers, 32% were civilian personnel and 2% were special constables.Note 

Of police officers on long-term leave, 62% (or 2,069) were on leave for medical reasons, which includes, for example, long-term disability, mental health leave, medical emergencies, injury while on duty etc. In other words, 3% of police officers that yearNote  were on medical leave. Other types of long-term leave included parental leave (23% of officers on leave, or 786) and other types of leave (14% or 480). Long-term leave may or may not have been paid by police service.

Among OPP officers on long-term leave, 72% were on leave for medical reasons. In comparison, the same was true for 68% of RCMP officers on long-term leave, 60% among stand-alone municipals (including First Nations police services), and 41% of SQ officers on long-term leave. The RNC had the lowest proportion of long-term leave officers on leave for medical reasons (29%), and the largest proportion on parental leave (53%).

Male officers were more likely to be on long-term leave than female officers (57% versus 43%). Parental leave was the most common reason for female officers to be on long-term leave (43%), whereas medical leave was the most common reason among male officers on long-term leave (49%).

Start of text box 4

Text box 4
Police officers as victims of homicide

Like many first responder occupations, policing carries a high risk of mental and physical harm, including loss of life. According to Statistics Canada’s Homicide Survey, between 1961 and 2018, 148 police officers were victims of homicide as a result of their occupation, marking an average of almost 3 officers per year. Over the last 20 years, 2005 saw the highest number of officers killed, with 5 reported as victims of homicide (Table 7). In 2018, two police officers were killed as a result of their occupation.Note 

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Summary

Police services face new and unforeseen challenges every year and are continually evolving to respond to new standards and policies, advances in information and communications technology, and the demands of their diverse communities.

Expectations of police services continually expand beyond crime prevention and law enforcement. Police services are one of the first responders to mental health calls, drug crisis, suicides, disturbances, motor vehicle accidents and many other community well-being and safety issues which may not be criminal. These calls, along with responding to crime, require an abundance of police resources, with recent data suggesting police responded to at least 12.8 million calls for service in 2017/2018.

While the results from the Police Administration Survey show the rate of police strength has been declining since 2011, spending per capita has been increasing for majority of the years since 2012/2013. The redesigned Police Administration Survey launched in 2018 provides insight not only on some of the cost-drivers for policing, but also information on how police services are evolving with their police personnel and human resources structures. For instance, in order to respond to the growing demands of police services, the use of civilian personnel are becoming more prevalent in police services, increasing the number of these employees by 7% in 2018. Further, a number of police services are working towards increasing diversity in their service and reported 8% of police officers as visible minority and 4% as Indigenous in 2018. Moreover, the representation of female officers is increasing each year, even within the higher ranks. While women continue to account for the majority of employees in traditional female roles in policing, they are also visible in non-traditional positions such as research, custody and forensics.

Costs continue to increase for policing, and salaries remain the largest expense, but information technology and other policing equipment together accounted for $664 million in 2017/2018.

The collection of these new data from the Police Administration Survey over time will provide a better understanding of changing trends in human resources and the cost-drivers for policing. The 2019 survey collected detailed information on these aspects of policing as well as new information on the costs associated with policing drug-impaired driving.

Detailed data tables

Table 1 Current and constant (2002) dollar operating expenditures on policing, Canada, 1986/1987 to 2017/2018

Table 2 Total expenditures on policing, current dollars, by province and territory, 2017/2018

Table 3 Trends in police personnel, Canada, 1962 to 2018

Table 4 Police officers by level of policing, by province and territory, 2018

Table 5 Municipal police services serving a population of 100,000 or more, Canada, 2018

Table 6 Hirings and departures of police officers, by province and territory, Canada, 2017/2018

Table 7 Homicides against police officers as a result of their profession, by region, 1961 to 2018

Survey description

The Police Administration Survey collects data on police personnel and expenditures from each municipal, provincial and federal police services in Canada. The following security agencies are excluded from the survey: the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, railway and military police, and government departments enforcing specific statutes in the areas of income tax, customs and excise, immigration, fisheries and wildlife. Additionally, private security services and private investigators are not included in the survey.

Data presented in this report represent police personnel as of May 15, 2018 and year-end expenditures for the 2017 calendar year or the 2017/2018 fiscal year. Full-time equivalent counts include all permanent sworn police officers available for active duty as of May 15, 2018. Part-time permanent personnel are converted to a full-time equivalent. Police expenditures represent actual operating expenditures and include salaries and wages, benefits, and other operating expenses such as accommodation costs, fuel, and maintenance, as well as capital expenditures. Expenditure data represent gross expenditure, and does not funding from external sources, or cost recovery dollars. These amounts are provided separately.

From 2012-2017, the Police Administration Survey has included a Supplemental questionnaire which captures detailed information on hires, departures, eligibility to retire, years of service, age, education, visible minority status, and language. Due to data quality issues, some of this information is not published.

In 2018, the Police Administration Survey was redesigned, in collaboration with the policing community. The new survey provides the number of police officers, civilians, special constables and recruits employed by the police service (in full-time equivalents). The actual number (headcount) of employees by their status as paid or unpaid, permanent or non-permanent, and full or part-time, is also collected. Information for police officers is categorized by rank (i.e., commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and Constables) and by gender and age group. Information for civilians and special constables is provided by their duties and functions in the police service. Information on hiring, departures, long-term leave, and eligibility to retire is provided, as well as Aboriginal and visible minority identity of employees. Other questions collect data on operating expenditures broken down into salaries/wages and benefits, and other non-salary operating expenditures by type of expenditure. Information on capital expenses are also collected by type of expense. In addition, detailed spending amounts on selected types of policing information technology and police equipment is collected. Lastly, information on current and emerging issues related to policing in Canada is collected.

For more information on survey definitions and methods, refer to the Statistics Canada survey information page: Police Administration Survey.

References

Ahlgren, A. 2017. “The mental health of police personnel: what we know & what we need to know and do.” Journal of Community Safety & Well-Being. (CACP-MHCC Conference 13-15 February 2017).

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. 2015. The Dollars and Sense of Policing, Public Safety and Well-Being in Your Community.

CBC News. 2012 Stigma of Mental Illness Among Police Officers Waning, say Experts., Ottawa. April 24, 2012.

Cotter, A. 2015. “Public confidence in Canadian institutions.” Spotlight on Canadians: Results from the General Social Survey. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 89-652-X.

Council of Canadian Academies. 2014. “Policing Canada in the 21st Century: New policing for new challenges.” The Expert Panel on the Future of Canadian Policing Models, Council of Canadian Academies.

Giocomantonio, C. and Savoie, J. Winter 2019. "A better way to measure trust and confidence in police in Canada: The Core Indicators Data Standard.” Canadian La Revue Des Chefs de Police, Chief Magazine.

Griffiths, C. T., A. Palmer, L. Weeks and B. Polidore. 2006. Civilianization in the Vancouver Police Department. Public Safety Canada.

Griffiths, C. T., N. Pollard and T. Stamatakis. 2014. “Assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of a police service: The analytics of operational reviews.” Police Practice and Research, 2014. Vol. 16, no. 2. p. 175-187.

Kiedrowski, J., Petrunik, M., Macdonald, T. and Melchers, R. 2013. Canadian Police Board Views on the Use of Police Performance Metrics. Ottawa, Ontario. Public Safety Canada.

Lithopoulos, S. and R. Ruddell. 2013. “Aboriginal policing in rural Canada: Establishing a research agenda.” International Journal of Rural Criminology. Vol. 2, no. 1.

Mazowita, B. and Rotenberg, C. 2019. “The Canadian Police Performance Metrics Framework: Standardized indicators for police services in Canada.” Juristat. Catalogue no. 85-205-X.

Morrell, K. 2014. "Civilianization and its discontents." Academy of Management Proceedings. Vol. 2014, no. 1.

Peak, K. 2010. “Police issues and practices.” Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections Management. Sixth Edition. Pearson Education, 2010.

Roufa, T. 2018. “Police Work and Poor Health.” The Balance Careers.

Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. 2014. Economics of Policing: Report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. House of Commons Canada.

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