Are you thinking about becoming a police officer in Canada? If you’re trying to pick which city you want to serve and protect, there might be a financial factor that incentivizes you to choose this Canadian location over any other.
Delta, BC, boasts an unofficial title as the place where police officers are paid the highest in the country, and if we break it down, some other spots don’t even come close.
To compare, we looked at two salaries: the first-year officer, essentially fresh out of training, and the constable with a few years experience, about four, and broke down the numbers by city/force.
deltapolice/X
Delta Police Department
- Probationary Constable (1st year, including training): $85,464
- First Class Constable (after four years): $122,088
Vancouver Police Department
- Probationary Constable: $85,392
- 1st Class Constable (after four years): $121,992
Perks: There are gyms in all the police buildings and physiotherapists on staff.
Surrey Police Service
- Fifth Class Constable (first year, including training): $85,392
- First Class Constable (after four years): $121,989
Edmonton Police Service
- 1st Year Constable: $76,291
- 4th Year Constable: $103,619
Edmonton also has a yearly allowance of $597 for uniform tailoring or to buy new boots. Those who work the graveyard shifts get an extra $1.20 an hour.
Calgary Police Service
It starts at $73,460 and rises to $113,015 after five years (we weren’t able to find four-year salaries for this one).
RCMP
- 1st year Constable: $65,776
- Step Five Constable: $106,576
The RCMP also gives an additional Annual Service Pay percentage, depending on the years worked, to a maximum of 10.5% of the member’s maximum salary.
Toronto Police Service
- 4th Class Constable (after training) $73,142.64
- 1st Class Constable $104,491.87
SPVM: Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal
- Hiring salary (2024): $58,336 (including city bonus)
- Unable to confirm four-year constable salary rates
Ontario Provincial Police
- Probationary Constable (after the successful completion of initial training): $74,617.00
- 1st Class Constable (after 42 months): $102,630.00 (set to jump to $123,194)
Coming in on Delta’s heels is the Ontario Provincial Police, which will see its officers soon surpass Delta in terms of pay after its association ratified a deal to see salaries increase by about 15% by 2026. While we don’t know yet what Delta will see in the years ahead, the OPP holds the distinction of being the highest-paid police in Ontario right now and might soon take over Delta’s honour nationally.
Getting to know Delta
City of Delta/Facebook
Delta is the province’s 10th most populated spot, with a population of about 100,000, according to the 2021 census. It shares a border with BC’s fastest-growing city, Surrey, and the small US pene-exclave community of Point Roberts. Delta is also just across the Fraser River from Richmond and New Westminster and is a corridor to Vancouver and Vancouver Island through the BC Ferries terminal in Tsawwassen.
@deltapolice/X
Like many cities and districts in BC’s southern coast, Delta has seen some high-profile crimes, such as gang-affiliated gun violence, and like Vancouver, it does not use the services of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team when investigating them.
According to the latest numbers provided by the Delta Police Department, crime has been down significantly this year, and it reflects “a positive shift in the safety and security of Delta, demonstrating the effectiveness of ongoing efforts to combat crime.”
Delta defends Delta
Delta Police/Instagram
We asked the City of Delta to explain why these police officers are paid more than other cities, and they clarified that a few factors are involved, including competition for the best candidates.
“Delta Police Department currently has a collective agreement (MOA) for 2022-2024 which was signed in May 2022 and ratified by the Police Board. The wage increases were comparable with other municipal police forces, with 3.6% in 2022, 3% in 2023, and 3% in 2024. In December 2023, the Police Board amended the 2024 wage increase from 3% to 6% in order to ensure that DPD remains a competitive employer of the region’s police officers,” the city explained.
Plus, the City says the officers are doing a great job.
Delta Police Traffic Unit/X
“Through the work of the Delta Police Department, Delta is one of the safest communities not just in the Lower Mainland but in Canada. Statistics Canada scores Delta’s Crime Severity Index (CSI) at 63.9, which is 39% lower than BC’s provincial average and 21% lower than the national average,” they said.
In terms of what taxpayers could be seeing next year, that number hasn’t been presented yet.
“Contract settlements will be built into the City’s base budget and an estimate for 2025 will be determined prior to budget approval later this year, if the collective agreement hasn’t been ratified,” a spokesperson told Daily Hive.
Standing on guard
RCMP patrol vehicle (Shutterstock)
Looking at the numbers, policing costs don’t come cheap. In 2022/2023, the total costs for all police services in Canada were $19.7 billion, a jump of 6% compared with 2021/2022, despite calls for police decreasing slightly that year. On a per capita basis, police operating expenditures cost $335 per Canadian per year, according to Statistics Canada.
According to the Canadian Job Bank, the median average wage is $48.08 an hour as of this year, and when it was last reported in 2018, the average salary was just under $100,000.
If working in these roles holds no sway for you, there are plenty of job postings nationwide. Head here to read more!