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.