Police constable career

A career in policing requires you to:

  • work with people to ensure public safety through crime prevention and law enforcement
  • build relationships in the community
  • be sensitive to the needs of people from all races, cultures and backgrounds

The Police Services Act describes the following key areas of responsibility for police constables:

  • preserving the peace
  • preventing crimes and assisting others in the prevention of crime
  • assisting victims of crime
  • apprehending and charging offenders
  • executing warrants

Constable selection system

The Constable Selection System (CSS) is a comprehensive suite of assessment tools used to determine if police constable applicants are suitable for the job. Currently, municipal police services and the Ontario Provincial Police use the system to assess candidates.

The CSS makes the application and recruitment process easier for applicants and employers by allowing multiple police services to assess job applicants using the same selection criteria. It is also designed to prevent such problems as:

  • multiple applications by candidates to police services across the province that require multiple costly and time-consuming assessment of the same candidates
  • inconsistent assessment of candidates by police services with differing selection criteria
  • potential application of arbitrary selection practices not grounded on actual job requirements

We continue to update the CSS, based on changes in policing and research and validate it to ensure it is free of bias and reflects the requirements of a police constable in Ontario.

For further information about the requirements for the CSS, including the medical requirements, please refer to Applicant Testing Services and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.