SPS has set a high standard for recruiting to ensure we hire the highest quality police officers. Applicants can make themselves more competitive through self-improvement in areas such as:

• Post-secondary education
• Physical fitness
• Community volunteer experience
• Police-related work or volunteer experience
• Work experience involving a position of responsibility and trust
• Activities or duties involving significant interaction with the public
• Knowledge of a second language or culture
• Military service
• Applied knowledge of computers and basic keyboard skills

As long as you meet SPS’s minimum requirements, which include being a Canadian Citizen or having Permanent Resident status, we welcome your application. The application process for all recruits is the same, regardless of where you currently live.

Yes. If you have used cannabis in Canada since it was legalized, then it is unlikely to have any effect on your application. However, any illicit drug use could impact your application depending on the circumstances, frequency and how long ago it occurred. It is a requirement of SPS that its employees are fit for duty. (Please review SPS policy)

Yes, however, any illicit drug use could impact your application depending on various factors such as the type of drug(s) used; the amount/frequency of use; and how recently the drugs were used. It is a requirement of SPS that its employees are fit for duty (please review SPS Policy).

We recognize that people make mistakes, and they learn from them. Life experience is an important element of a well-rounded police officer. Having made some questionable decisions in the past does not necessarily prevent you from being hired by SPS.

Each applicant’s drug use is evaluated in totality and on a case-by-case basis. Our selection process is thorough and includes in-depth interviews, a polygraph examination, and a background investigation. When a candidate discloses illegal activity, we will discuss the incident or activity with you and an assessment will be made.

No. You cannot have a criminal conviction for which a pardon has not been granted and you cannot have any criminal charges pending to be a qualified applicant with the SPS.

Yes. Our goal is to confirm the status of your application as soon as possible, however it may take our recruitment team 8-12 weeks to be in touch. We want to ensure we give each application our full attention. We thank you for your patience.

There will likely be some costs associated to the pre-application process that you will be responsible for. These may include costs associated to obtaining the supporting documentation that will accompany your application such as obtaining copies of your driving abstract, vision report, audiometric report, passport sized photos, educational transcripts, Police Information Check, etc. Once your application is accepted, costs associated to the hiring process such as Intake Exam, POPAT, pre-employment psychological testing, medical and polygraph, are covered by SPS.

Once hired, you will attend three blocks of training at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) Police Academy in New Westminster, BC. Recruit Constables receive a base salary and benefits while undergoing recruit training at the JIBC. SPS will cover the majority of JIBC tuition costs, with recruits responsible for a portion of their program tuition.

SPS is always looking for outstanding new recruits! We accept, process, and screen recruit applications year-round so we encourage to you apply as soon as you are ready. SPS recruits will begin their training at the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) Police Academy in January, May, or September, with two weeks of onboarding and training at SPS, prior to attending the JIBC. However, SPS does hire recruits year-round, with some recruits joining SPS early to gain additional policing experience and organizational understanding prior to entering the Police Academy.

As a new recruit, you should expect to spend the first several years of your SPS career working in the Community Policing Bureau as a Frontline Constable. Once you have built a strong foundation of policing skills, you will be able to branch out into more specialized areas of policing.

SPS will have all the support and specialized sections that would be expected of one of the largest municipal police agencies in the country. These will include sections that support youth, vulnerable persons, trafficking, traffic/serious collisions, diversity and Indigenous relations, and more. SPS will also be progressive in developing new units to meet the needs of our diverse community.

Yes, SPS will be a part of the Integrated Teams serving the Lower Mainland, which include:

• Emergency Response Team (ERT)
• Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service (ICARS)
• LMD Integrated Forensic Identification Service (IFIS)
• Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT)
• Integrated Police Dog Services (IPDS)

Community Safety personnel figure prominently into our policing philosophy and our goal will be to have them in place once we are fully operational. Having frontline police officers in place is our first priority.

The promotional processes for SPS are still being developed, however they will include various strategies to assess readiness, skills, abilities and leadership characteristics.

During the first phase of the transition, the model will follow the shift schedule used by the Surrey RCMP. Typically, frontline shifts are rotating, 11-12 hours (four on, four off) and have multiple start times to best address peak policing periods. 

When SPS becomes Police of Jurisdiction, we will be looking to implement our own shift schedule. We worked closely with frontline officers to build a shift schedule that works for both our officers and the community we serve. Some of the benefits of this schedule include: 

• More hours of rest during days off (up to 115 hours)
• Shorter overnight shifts (10 hours instead of 12)
• Overnight shifts don’t start until later in the evening, allowing for more family time
• Same shift for each 4-day block, resulting in less sleep disruption
• Increased ability for SPS to provide officers with training
• Increased team cohesion and supervision, with the full team having the same start/end time.
• Overlapping shifts which increase ability to relieve officers at end of shift

For more information, view our shift schedule video. 

As a major municipal police department, Chief Constable Lipinski is considering some two-person vehicles.

The first SPS officers were deployed in 2021 into operational policing duties within the Surrey RCMP detachment. SPS became the police of jurisdiction for Surrey on November 29, 2024, taking over full command of policing and law enforcement in Surrey. 

Initially, new recruits are trained at the Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) Police Academy. Thereafter, SPS encourages professional development on an ongoing basis, including ongoing training in our in-house Training Centre. Additional courses and training with the Justice Institute, partner agencies, post-secondary and internal development programs will all be available to SPS members throughout their careers.

Uniform and body armour will be new for SPS officers and will be light and flexible. Service handguns will be the Glock Generation 5. SPS will also have communal carbines, and a number of other use of force options and equipment for each officer that is currently being determined.

We have a dedicated leadership development training team and a commitment to learning. Leadership training is very important to SPS and we will make a concerted effort to train all staff, and to continue training and development as members move up in rank.

For investigative training, SPS is looking to build a program where there is a continuum of training from Constable to Commander.

SPS will also allocate three days a year for operational skills training, which will include de-escalation, active shooter, and other reality-based training. SPS is also researching resiliency-based training for health and wellness.