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  6. Police Investigators and Other Investigative Occupations

Exploring Trades and Occupations

Police Investigators and Other Investigative Occupations

On this page

  • Job description
  • Advancement and mobility
  • Hourly wage
  • Job prospects for 2024-2028
  • Sectors of activity
  • Training and requirements
  • Main skills and characteristics
  • Personality profiles (RIASEC)
  • Additional information

Job description

These individuals ensure the protection of the public and the detection and prevention of crime. To do so, they investigate criminal acts. They may work for:

  • The Sûreté du Québec (SQ)
  • The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
  • Municipal police forces

Environment

  • Controlled ambient temperature
  • Climatic conditions
  • Equipment, machinery, tools
  • Vehicle or passenger compartment
  • Hazardous workplaces
  • Violence

Main tasks

  • Help develop investigation strategies.
  • Interrogate witnesses and arrest suspects of criminal and accidental offences.
  • Analyze crime scenes.
  • Carry out interviews and interrogations.
  • Build evidence by gathering relevant information.
  • Monitor and coordinate the activities of other police officers, as required.
  • Take notes and draft investigation reports.
  • Testify in court.
  • Record statements from witnesses and victims of crime.

Advancement and mobility

  • Experience and additional training lead to management positions.

Hourly wage

The hourly wage is calculated by averaging wages from 2022 to 2024.
Minimum
$33.00
Median
$53.00
Maximum
$61.54

Job prospects for 2024-2028

Les 2 champs de sélection ci-dessous vous permettent de comparer 2 régions. Les données des régions seront automatiquement mises à jour à la sélection. Par défaut, la province de Québec est sélectionnée pour la première région.

Job prospects for 2024-2028

Job prospects

All of Québec

Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Good

All of Québec

Non available
Limited
Good
Very good
Non available

Total jobs for 2023

All of Québec

600

All of Québec

na

Gender distribution

All of Québec

Not available.
37.4% Female
62.6% Male

Not available.
  • 37.4% Female
  • 62.6% Male

Job types

All of Québec

Not available.
Full time
Part time

Not available.
  • Full time
  • Part time

Yearly wage on 2020

All of Québec

$110,000

All of Québec

Other characteristics

All of Québec

  • Non traditional for women
  • None

All of Québec

  • Non traditional for women
  • None

Sectors of activity

All of Québec

Not available.
  1. Public Administration
    NAICS 91
    98% of jobs
  2. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  3. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  4. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  5. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  6. Others
    0% of jobs

All of Québec

Not available.
  1. Public Administration
    NAICS 91
    98% of jobs
  2. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  3. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  4. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  5. Health Care
    NAICS 621, 622, 623
    2% of jobs
  6. Others
    0% of jobs

Training and requirements

Formation

Most training programs are offered in French only.

College

DCS in techniques policières
Code : 310A0

Placement rate: 79.9%

16.2% of graduates pursue further studies

More on graduates’ employment situation

University

Medicine
This discipline is taught in the following institutions:
  • Bishop's University
  • Université de Montréal
  • Université de Sherbrooke
  • Université Laval
  • McGill University

Also required

  • Meet certain requirements for physical fitness, agility, strength, and good vision.
  • Experience as a police officer.
  • Successful completion of specialized courses.

Sometimes required

  • Psychological tests are sometimes required.

Main skills and characteristics

Skills

  • Data collection
  • Solving complex problems
  • Critical thought
  • Information processing
  • Active listening
  • Social perception
  • Oral expression
  • Written expression
  • Negotiation
  • Persuasion
  • Result evaluation
  • Time management
  • Reading comprehension
  • Coordination
  • Judgment and decision-making
  • Service oriented
  • Active learning
  • Teaching
  • Learning strategies
More Less skills

Abilities

  • Deductive reasoning
  • Processing flexibility
  • Awareness of issues
  • Oral comprehension
  • Verbal skills
  • Inductive reasoning
  • Selective attention
  • Near vision
  • Speech recognition
  • Information processing speed
  • Speech clarity
  • Distance vision
  • Written comprehension
  • Reaction time
  • Written expression
  • Information organization
  • Memorization
  • Perception speed
  • Hand-arm stability
  • Idea generation
  • Auditory attention
  • Limb coordination
  • Response orientation
  • Classification
  • Speed control
  • Core strength
  • Manual dexterity
  • Endurance
  • Explosive strength
  • Static muscle power
  • Hearing sensitivity
  • Limb movement speed
  • Originality
  • Time sharing
  • Physical flexibility in extension
More Less abilities

Knowledge and attributes

  • Capacity to establish and maintain interpersonal relations
  • Capacity to work under pressure
  • Critical thinking
  • Perseverance
  • Autonomy
  • Capacity to adapt
  • Spoken and written bilingualism (French and English)
  • Capacity for synthesis
  • Sense of observation
  • Knowledge of laws and policies

Interests

  • Draft, communicate, and inform
  • Watch, defend, and secure
  • Carry out research
  • Collect, verify, sort, and classify data or information

Personality profiles (RIASEC)

Investigative
People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
Realistic
People with this profile prefer carrying out concrete tasks and being physically involved in what they do.
Social
People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
Additional information

Official name of the NOC 41310

Police investigators and other investigative occupations

Job titles

  • Drug investigator - police
  • Cybercrime investigator
  • Detective - police
  • Coroner
  • Medical examiner
  • Detective sergeant - police
  • Canadian security intelligence service (csis) investigator
  • Counterfeit and forgery section detective
  • Vice squad detective
  • Narcotics squad detective
  • Railway investigator - police
  • Dark web detective
  • Narcotics detective
More Less job titles

Skill type

Education, law and social, community and government services

Related occupations

  • Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services
  • Police officers (except commissioned)
  • Sheriffs and bailiffs

See also

  • Glossary (PDF 229 Kb)
  • Québec emploi

See also

Non traditional

Hats Off to You!

Last update: January 29, 2026

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