Probation and Parole Officers
Job description
Probation Officers supervise the conduct and behaviour of offenders on probation.
Parole Officers supervise the reintegration of offenders on parole.
Classification Officers evaluate detained individuals. They also develop rehabilitation programs for offenders incarcerated in correctional facilities.
Prison Counsellors serve as a resource person for offenders. They encourage them to become aware of their behaviour and to begin a process of empowerment.
These individuals work in the public service and in correctional facilities.
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Hazardous workplaces
- Violence
Main tasks
Probation and Parole Officers
- Meet with offenders, their entourage (family and friends), and the police.
- Draft reports.
- Assess the chances of successful social reintegration.
- Develop rehabilitation programs and define guidelines and objectives.
- Refer offenders to the services available to them.
- Supervise probation conditions and report to the court.
- Assess the extent to which offenders achieve their goals and comply with their probation conditions.
- Recommend measures or initiate legal action for breach of probation.
- Supervise support staff.
- Ensure the accompaniment of the offender through interventions aimed at making them aware of and responsible for their social reintegration process, as well as through supervision and monitoring activities.
Classification Officers - Correctional Services
- Meet with inmates to assess adjustment problems and develop rehabilitation programs.
- Draft reports that identify the type of incarceration and intervention most conducive to rehabilitation.
- Develop rehabilitation programs with inmates and set goals.
- Communicate with family and friends to help maintain ties outside the institution.
- Provide advice and counselling to inmates and evaluate their progress.
Prison Counsellors
- Ensure the development and implementation of programs and services to support social reintegration.
- Act as a resource person for offenders with respect to their delinquency problems.
- Sit on various committees provided for in the instructions (temporary absences, discipline, classification review, etc.).
- Support the Executive Committee by managing various administrative files.
- Carry out various assessment and intervention activities with offenders.
Advancement and mobility
- Experience or additional training can lead to management positions.
Hourly wage
Not available.Job prospects for 2024-2028
Job prospects for 2024-2028
Job prospects
All of Québec
All of Québec
Total jobs for 2023
All of Québec
All of Québec
Gender distribution
All of Québec
- 85.4% Female
- 14.6% Male
- 85.4% Female
- 14.6% Male
Job types
All of Québec
- Full time
- Part time
- Full time
- Part time
Yearly wage on 2020
All of Québec
All of Québec
Other characteristics
All of Québec
- Non traditional for men
- None
All of Québec
- Non traditional for men
- None
Sectors of activity
All of Québec
-
NAICS 9198% of jobs
-
NAICS 6241% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
Others0% of jobs
All of Québec
-
NAICS 9198% of jobs
-
NAICS 6241% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
NAICS 611% of jobs
-
Others0% of jobs
Training and requirements
Formation
Most training programs are offered in French only.
University
Criminology
Bachelor’s degree
Placement rate: 73.6%
24.5% of graduates pursue further studies
Master’s degree
Placement rate: 86.5%
10.8% of graduates pursue further studies
Also required
- Be a member in good standing of one of the following professional orders (or be able to meet this requirement within the next year):
- Ordre professionnel des criminologues du Québec (Quebec Order of Professional Criminologists)
- Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et des thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec (Quebec Order of Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists)
- Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d'orientation du Québec (Quebec Order of Guidance Counsellors)
- Ordre des psychologues du Québec (Quebec Order of Psychologists)
- Ordre des psychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec (Quebec Order of Psychoeducators)
- Ordre professionnel des sexologues du Québec (Quebec Order of Professional Sexologists)
Sometimes required
- Maitrise en sciences sociales (travail social, criminologie, psychologie, etc.) parfois exigée.
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Critical thought
- Oral expression
- Social perception
- Active listening
- Result evaluation
- Written expression
- Reading comprehension
- Information processing
- Judgment and decision-making
- Solving complex problems
- Coordination
- Persuasion
- Active learning
- Service oriented
- Negotiation
- Teaching
- Time management
Abilities
- Awareness of issues
- Oral comprehension
- Verbal skills
- Inductive reasoning
- Speech recognition
- Deductive reasoning
- Speech clarity
- Written comprehension
- Written expression
- Near vision
- Information organization
Knowledge and attributes
- Capacity to establish and maintain interpersonal relations
- Critical thinking
- Sense of responsibility
- Capacity to influence and mobilize
- Capacity to work in a team
- Rigour
- Tolerance to stress
- Sense of observation
- Knowledge of public safety and security
- Knowledge of psychology
Interests
- Draft, communicate, and inform
- Watch, defend, and secure
- Assist and advise
- Teach or educate
- Assist or care for people
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Social
- People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
- Investigative
- People with this profile prefer relying on theoretical knowledge before acting. They like observation, analysis and problem solving.
- Conventional
- People with this profile prefer specific, well-defined tasks. They like to respect the order of things and follow established rules.
Official name of the NOC 41311
Probation and parole officers
Job titles
- Classification counsellor - corrections
- Clemency officer - corrections
- Parole officer
- Probation officer
- Probation and parole officer
- Parole supervisor
Skill type
Education, law and social, community and government services
Last update: January 29, 2026