No degree required. Paid training, a pension, and six figures within a few years of hire.
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Programs in the fields this career usually comes through. Each has its own page: what it takes to get in, the courses you need and what it costs.
The median pay is about $104,000 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $67,000 at the lower end to about $133,000 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
1 to 3 years after high school, on the usual route.
$250 to $12,500 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
It depends where you work. You need a licence, certificate or registration in Quebec. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$104,000
Lower end
$67,000
Upper end
$133,000
Job Bank's national median is $50 an hour, about $104,000 a year at 40 hours a week. The lower end ($32) and upper end ($64.10) are the bottom and top of the range for everyone in the group. Each service sets its own grid.
$93,690 a year
A new Vancouver Police constable, rising to $133,847 within four years
Each service sets its own grid. Promotion to sergeant, staff sergeant and inspector adds more.
$56.47 an hour
The Job Bank median in Nunavut, the highest in Canada
BC (British Columbia) is the highest province at $54, Ontario is $50.55, and Quebec is lowest at $45.08.
Roughly, all in
$250 to $12,500
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is somebody hired straight out of high school who pays only for the Ontario certificate testing run by the OACP (Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police). Recruit training at police college costs nothing and you are paid to attend, and the fitness test, medical and background check are normally covered by the service that hires you. The high end adds a two year police foundations college diploma at roughly $6,000 a year, which is optional and does not guarantee a badge. Very few six figure jobs cost this little to enter.
This is one of the few six-figure careers with almost no education cost.
Defined-benefit pension
A pension that pays a set amount every month for life. Full pension after 30 years, or at age 50 to 55 at many services.
Health, dental and extended leave
Paid duty work
Off-duty security at events and construction sites at premium rates.
Uniform, equipment and training provided
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Meet the minimums, pass the tests, get hired, then train.
High school diploma
Grade 12
The legal minimum. Most successful applicants have some post-secondary education or work history.
Meet the requirements
Before applying
Canadian citizen or permanent resident, 18 or 19 or older, valid driver's licence, clean record, first aid and CPR, and pass a vision and hearing check.
Testing and selection
3 to 12 months
In Ontario, the OACP Certificate (a standard police entrance test): written tests, a fitness test (called PREP) and a psychological screen. Then the service's own interviews, background check and polygraph at some services.
Police college
3 to 6 months
Ontario Police College is 13 weeks. RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Depot in Regina is 26 weeks. Both are paid. Quebec is different: its academy is about 15 weeks after a 3 year college diploma, and the student pays (see the Quebec path).
Probationary constable
12 months
Coached by a senior officer for the first year.
Police foundations or criminology diploma
Not required but very common.
Any degree
Some services prefer it, and it helps with promotion later.
Volunteer and community work
Auxiliary police programs are the classic route.
Fitness
You must pass a timed physical test.
There is no police licence. Your police service appoints and swears you in under the provincial police act, then trains you. Quebec is the exception: its Police Act says you must hold the diploma of the ENPQ (École nationale de police du Québec, the provincial police school) before you can be hired. Moving between services usually means re-applying, though experienced officers can transfer with shorter training. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is federal and can post you anywhere in Canada.
Quebec reverses the order. You train first, at your own cost, then look for a job. By law a force can only hire graduates of the provincial police school.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
With Secondary IV math in any sequence. Keep a clean record: a criminal conviction rules you out, even after a pardon.
Police Technology DEC (Diploma of College Studies)
3 years
A 3 year CEGEP (public college) program offered at colleges across Quebec, including John Abbott College in English. Admission is competitive and includes a fitness test and a medical exam.
Apply to the ENPQ (École nationale de police du Québec)
2 to 6 months
Applications open 1 March to 1 May. You need firearms safety certificates, entrance tests, a medical exam and a physical test.
Patrol training in Nicolet
About 4 to 5 months
15 weeks at the school plus 3 preparatory weeks, living on campus. Taught in French only.
Get hired
Varies
Apply to a city force or the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police. Forces ask for Canadian citizenship, French and a class 4A driver's licence. Then about a year of probation.
Quebec has a shorter route: a 30 week AEC (Attestation of College Studies) in police technology, for people with a bachelor's degree or a 3 year technical diploma in another field. You cannot simply enrol. A police force has to select you first and promise to hire you, and only some forces do. Today it mostly runs as a diversity recruitment program with Montreal police and the Sûreté du Québec.
The rest of Canada mostly hires first and trains on salary. In Quebec you carry the cost before any force has said yes.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Detective or investigator
Major crimes, fraud, cybercrime, homicide. Usually after 5+ years on patrol.
Tactical or emergency response
Highly selective, extra training.
Canine, marine, mounted, traffic
Specialized units with their own selection.
Promotion
Sergeant, staff sergeant, inspector. Exams and interviews at each step.
A second language
French is an asset federally; other languages help in big cities.
Military or security experience
Communications or social work background
Increasingly valued in modern policing.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Patrol officers work 10 to 12 hour rotating shifts, including nights and weekends. A shift is calls for service: traffic stops, disputes, mental health crises, break-ins, collisions, and a lot of reports. Long stretches of routine broken by short bursts of intensity. Court appearances happen on your days off, paid.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Every Mountie in Canada goes through Depot Division in Regina, Saskatchewan. Cadets live on base for 26 weeks.
The OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) and the Sûreté du Québec police most of their provinces outside big cities. Everywhere else, the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) does that job under contract.
Ontario publishes the name of every public sector employee paid $100,000 or more in a year, and many police officers appear on it. Job Bank counts about 79,800 police officers in Canada in 2023.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Police and fire first, then the rest of the field. See every career in law and public safety.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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