The background check will include a review of your Integrity and Lifestyle Questionnaire, reference checks and a discussion with your current employer (at the appropriate time and with your knowledge and agreement). If you are an experienced police officer currently employed by a Canadian police agency, SPS does not currently require a polygraph; however, you are required to pass the background check and be in good standing with your current agency. A polygraph is required for new recruits.

Applicants must attest to and must be currently at work and fit for duty. Currently serving police officers are not required to complete the Police Officer Physical Ability Test (POPAT). The POPAT is required for new recruits.

The process is the same for all experienced officers within Canada.

Yes, you can still apply. The reason for the McNeil disclosure may be discussed during the recruiting process. Please review the McNeil disclosure policy.

No. We will not process any application until any internal investigations are resolved.

Yes. We will confirm the status of your application within 14 days of your application. We want to ensure we give each application our full attention. We thank you for your patience.

Yes. SPS has been fully approved to move forward. On April 22, 2024 the Province of BC announced that SPS will become Police of Jurisdiction on November 29, 2024. In October 2023, the Province introduced new legislation requiring the City of Surrey to provide policing services through a municipal police department. 

Learn more about the policing transition and the Road to SPS.

Surrey Police Service posts specific positions that fill our hiring needs. As a growing organization, we are looking for multiple positions to fill our Traffic Enforcement Unit, Frontline Patrol, and positions in our Investigative Services Bureau. For a full list of available positions, please visit careers.surreypolice.ca. 

Many of these accreditations are universally recognized within the policing community and SPS is no different.  The SPS will reserve the right to assess these skills though an established criteria developed by the SPS.

No. As is the case with most municipal police agencies, SPS does not have a Corporal rank. However, Corporals with a specialized skill set may be considered for a Sergeant position in exceptional circumstances, with Surrey Police Union consultation and approval.

Corporals who do not meet the requirements for a Sergeant position and are hired as SPS Constables will be paid at 115% of SPS’s First Class Constable rate (20-year First Class Constable pay), providing they have at least eight years of policing service and are currently in a substantive Corporal position. They may also apply for SPS’s Sergeant Promotion Process without participating in the Sergeant Qualification Process, providing they pass the SPS Sergeant Exam and apply for promotion within five years of joining SPS.

Note: This does not apply to those who have filled the role of Corporal on an acting, temporary or while so employed basis at their previous police agency.

The promotional processes are competitive, and will assess candidate skills, abilities, merit and knowledge. Candidates must draw upon their work history to provide examples of relevant competencies through both written submissions and interviews.

SPS participates in the BC Municipal Pension Plan, one of the largest pension plans in Canada. You can find more information regarding your pension's transferability, as well as additional information on our Collective Agreement and Pension Information. If you currently work for a municipal department within BC your membership continues. For those from the RCMP or from municipal departments outside BC, you will be enrolled in the BC Municipal Pension Plan on the first day of your employment with SPS. 

At SPS, we believe it’s important to recognize the service of our new, experienced members. To honour your past service, you will be presented with a service pin which will have a bar for every ten years of your service. The level of vacation leave that you receive at SPS will also be determined by your years of recognized policing service. 

All new SPS experienced officers will go though an onboarding process which will include training on SPS policy and leadership, as well as all mandatory and operational skills required prior to deployment.

SPS also encourages professional development on an ongoing basis. Additional training with the Justice Institute of BC, partner agencies, post secondary schools, and internal development programs will be available to SPS staff. 

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 has built 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 as well as resiliency-based training for health and wellness.

Uniform and body armour for SPS officers is light and flexible. Officers use the Glock Generation 5 and have communal carbines. A number of other use of force options and equipment for each officer is also available.

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)

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. 

SPS will be looking into a combination of two-person and one-person vehicles depending on the units. For some agencies up to 40% of calls for service require a multi-officer response, which makes two-person vehicles a more cost-effective response that supports officer safety and public safety. 

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 will be our first priority.

On April 22, 2024 the Province of BC announced that SPS will become Police of Jurisdiction on November 29, 2024 at which time it will be responsible for policing and law enforcement on behalf of the City of Surrey.

Yes. On July 2, we began rolling out SPS-branded vehicles into policing operations. As we continue to grow the SPS fleet, some SPS officers will continue to drive RCMP-branded vehicles at this time.