In Canada, information on police personnel and expenditures is collected by Statistics Canada through the annual Police Administration Survey. Using data reported by each police service in Canada, this report provides details on police personnel and expenditures at the national, provincial and municipal levels. For the first time, in 2012, a new Supplemental Survey was added to collect detailed information on police hirings, retirements, eligibility to retire and, where available, visible minority status.

Data presented in this report represent two distinct time periods. Most of the information on police personnel is based on a “snapshot date” of May 15, 2012, while data on hirings, departures and expenditures represent the calendar year ending December 31, 2011 (or March 31, 2012 for those police services operating on a fiscal year).

The concept “police strength” is used throughout this report. Police strength refers to the number of police officers per 100,000 people in a given area (Canada, a province or territory, a Census Metropolitan Area or a police jurisdiction), and is used to enable comparisons over time and geography.