Join the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police): 26 paid weeks at Depot in Regina, then a posting anywhere in Canada.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
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 2 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
$150 to $12,150 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no licence 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 for RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officers 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 wage range for everyone in the group. The force's own grid: constables start at $71,191 and usually reach $115,350 within 36 months (April 2024 rates).
$1,000 a week
Cadet allowance for the 26-week program at Depot, about $26,000 in total
Room, meals, uniforms and travel are covered too, so cadets leave Depot with money saved. First-year constables then earn $71,191 (as of April 2024).
$56.47 an hour
The Job Bank median for police officers in Nunavut, the highest in Canada
Among the provinces BC (British Columbia) is highest at $54. Promotion to corporal and sergeant, overtime and isolated-post allowances in the North add to the grid.
Roughly, all in
$150 to $12,150
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The only thing you must pay for is a standard first aid certificate with Level C CPR before you report to Depot, which runs about $150. Depot training costs you nothing and you are paid a $1,000 weekly allowance while you are there, and there is no fee for the fitness test or medical. The high end adds an optional two year college police studies diploma at $4,000 to $6,000 a year, which does not shorten the process or guarantee acceptance. No degree is required to join the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police); the cost is a year long application and a willingness to be posted anywhere in the country.
No degree, no tuition. The cost is the year-long application and the willingness to move.
Pension
Full pension after 25 years of service; maximum at 35.
Vacation
15 days a year to start, rising to 30 with long service.
Health coverage
Supplemental health care at no cost to officers; family plans available.
Relocation and isolated-post allowances
Moves are paid; northern postings add money and extra leave.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
No degree. A long selection process, then 26 weeks at Depot.
High school diploma
Grade 12
A Canadian secondary school diploma or equivalent.
Meet the basics
Before applying
Canadian citizen or permanent resident with 3 of the last 5 years in Canada; 18 to apply, 19 to be hired; unrestricted driver's licence; proficient in English or French; no serious criminal record; willing to move anywhere and work shifts.
Selection
6 to 18 months
Online application, entrance assessment, fitness test (PARE, the Physical Abilities Requirement Evaluation) and attribute interview, forms, suitability interview, psychological and medical assessments, then a field investigation and security clearance.
Depot
26 weeks
26 weeks living on base in Regina, Saskatchewan: law, driving, firearms, defensive tactics, scenarios and fitness. Paid $1,000 a week.
Field coaching
6 months
Posted to a detachment and paired with a field coach for the first months.
Any post-secondary education
Not required, but common among successful applicants.
Fitness
Depot is not designed to get you fit. Arrive fit.
French
Bilingual officers are needed and get more choice of postings.
Volunteer and life experience
Maturity is assessed in the interviews.
The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is Canada's federal police and also the contract provincial and local police in every province except Ontario and Quebec, and in all three territories. There is no licence: the force appoints you and trains you at Depot. Officers are sworn under federal law, so one badge works everywhere. Your first posting is decided by the force, not you, and can be a village in northern Saskatchewan or a city in BC (British Columbia). Transfers between provinces are part of the career.
In Quebec the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) does federal work only, so you join through the same national process and the force can post you anywhere in Canada.
Finish Secondary V
Age 16 or 17
Your Quebec high school diploma is the Canadian high school diploma the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) asks for. No CEGEP (public college) is required.
Meet the basics
Before applying
Citizen, or permanent resident with 3 of the last 5 years in Canada. 18 to apply, 19 to be hired. A valid unrestricted driver's licence. English or French: bilingualism is not required.
Selection
Months
Online application, entrance assessment, fitness test, interviews, psychological and medical assessments, then a background investigation and security clearance.
Depot in Regina
26 weeks
26 weeks full time at the RCMP Academy in Regina, Saskatchewan, given in both official languages. Cadets get $1,000 a week. The RCMP pays your travel there and to your first detachment.
First posting and field coaching
6 months
6 months with a field coach as a new constable. You must accept a posting anywhere in Canada, and the RCMP does not do everyday local policing in Quebec.
In Quebec the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) works on federal cases such as organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism and crime crossing the border. Day to day local and provincial policing belongs to the Sûreté du Québec (the provincial police) and city forces, and by law they hire only graduates of the provincial police school. If you want to patrol in Quebec, that is a different route.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Federal policing
Organized crime, national security, cybercrime, border integrity.
Emergency Response Team
The tactical unit. Highly selective.
Major crimes and forensic identification
Musical Ride
The ceremonial horse unit; a temporary posting for regular officers.
A second or third language
Military experience
Comfort with small towns
Most first postings are rural.
The force also hires civilian members and public servants for intelligence, forensics and technology, and runs a separate federal policing recruiting stream aimed at people with degrees in areas like accounting, computer science and languages.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
In a rural detachment: 12-hour shifts, often with two or three officers covering a huge area. Calls range from collisions and domestic disputes to break-ins and mental health crises, with long drives between them and backup an hour away. City detachments in BC (British Columbia) and Alberta look more like municipal policing. Court days, reports and paperwork fill the rest.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Depot Division has trained recruits in Regina, Saskatchewan since 1885. Cadets live on base for 26 weeks, train in troops of about 32, and graduate with the same parade traditions as generations before them.
The scarlet tunic and Stetson are worn for ceremonies and the Musical Ride. On the job, officers wear a grey shirt and dark pants, and drive the same cars as any police service.
For most of its history the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) had no union. The National Police Federation was certified in 2019 and then negotiated the force's first collective agreement.
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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