A future police officer from Gatineau chose Ontario, where her tuition fees will be paid, rather than Quebec to pursue a career.
Nearly $15,000 is what Julie, a recruit to an Ontario police force who does not want to reveal her last name, will save during her training to become a police officer.
“It’s a big deal that Ontario is paying for your training, so it’s definitely something positive,” she stressed.
As of 1er April, the Ontario government will not only pay the tuition fees of future police officers, but also reduce the requirements to qualify. It will then no longer be necessary to complete post-secondary studies to qualify.
“I live right next to Ontario, so I take advantage of this change from Doug Ford,” she added.
Paid and already hired
In addition to avoiding paying her tuition fees, Julie is paid during her training.
“It’s a big deal, because you don’t have debt that comes back when you finish your police training. It’s really a big advantage in Ontario for this reason,” argues the 24-year-old young woman.
The journey to becoming a police officer should take Julie less than a year, without her having to do any prior studies related to the police field. She is currently completing the Basic Police Officer Training Program, which lasts eight to ten weeks. She will then go to the Ontario Police College for a period of less than three months. Another ten weeks of training will then be necessary, before she can officially hit the road as a police officer.
Last February, she was hired by a police force before even completing her training. “It’s much faster than Quebec,” specifies the recruit.
This is a major difference with the process of becoming a police officer in Quebec, where future officers must be trained to be subsequently hired.
Addressing the police shortage in Ontario
The Ontario government put these measures in place last year to “address the staff shortage” of police officers. In addition to free tuition and lower educational requirements to become a police officer, Doug Ford announced in April 2023 that his government would increase the number of recruits that can be trained each year.
“In my group at the moment, the people who were hired with me, we have a lot of people from Quebec who just preferred to go to Ontario for these advantages that there have been in recent years, it’s sure,” believes Julie.
At the City of Gatineau Police Department, there are currently 37 vacant positions.
And in Quebec?
In Quebec, the various police forces also continually need new officers. The Sûreté du Québec has just launched a recruitment campaign.
But future police officers must have completed post-secondary studies and must therefore pay the basic fees of CEGEP, i.e. a few hundred dollars, in addition to those of the National Police School of Quebec (ENPQ), which are more than 10 000$.
Three options are available to them. First, they can follow the standard three-year training at CEGEP in police techniques, followed by 15 weeks at ENPQ. The second option, which is aimed at people who already have a college diploma or have completed basic courses, is a two-year accelerated training in police techniques, followed by ENPQ training. The third and final choice is that of the college education certificate (AEC), targeting people of indigenous origin, as well as those representing visible or ethnic minorities.
Last year, the City of Montreal Police Department announced that the training costs of the Quebec National Police Academy would be reimbursed for hired graduates. In return, they will have to work at the SPVM for five years.
Bonnardel reacts
Asked to react to the changes made by the Ontario government and the attraction they could have on young Quebecers interested in a career as a police officer, the Minister of Public Security of Quebec, François Bonnardel, responded to us, in writing, listen to the manpower needs of Quebec’s police forces.
“We therefore increased the capacity of the ENPQ by 50% last year so that Quebec can now train nearly 1,000 police officers annually,” he declared. It was very important for us to take a strong action to meet training demands.”