Paying for Canadian Policing: It's Getting Beyond Us

 

In June 2012, the RCMP Pay Council published the results of its research on police compensation in Canada. What is interesting, but not surprising, is how closely clustered all police services in this country are in terms of compensation. What is both surprising and interesting is not only the fact that these salaries are becoming quite high, but also that the RCMP, which is without any formal police union (or association) to represent their collective bargaining interests, is near the top of the pay scale.

This report indicates that the total compensation (per hour values, which includes cash, pension, & group benefits) for the top-ranked police services is as follows:

Police Service                    Total Compensation           % vs. RCMP


1. Toronto                           71.14                                  8.05%
2. Vancouver                      70.89                                  7.69%
3. OPP                                66.62                                 1.19%
4. RCMP                             65.83                                  0.00%
5. Winnipeg                         63.08                                 -4.19%
6. Halifax                             59.28                                 -9.96%
7. SQ                                   58.73                                 -10.79%
8. Edmonton                        58.24                                 -11.53%
9. Montreal                          57.54                                 -12.60%

Certainly, the quite favourable compensation package secured for the RCMP tends to argue against the necessity for a police union to represent officers' collective bargaining interests. Other police departments with apparently strong and active police unions have not been able to secure salary and benefits package as generous as those negotiated for RCMP officers.

Another point to raise is that these figures represent First Class Constable compensation rates. It does not include overtime and therefore when reading these numbers it is essential to consider that most officers will be able to post earnings in excess of $100,000.00 annually with little overtime, or paid duty, effort. Also, once an officer begins to progress through the ranks, these compensation packages are increasingly more generous.