High school.

If you perform well in High School and pull off straight A's, you have to apply to a CEGEP that offers the Police Technology program. Police Technology is a very hard program to get into people need to have the best grades and out-stand themselves. If you don't get in the program right away, the smart option would probably be to do a pre-university program in CEGEP so that people get used themselves to collegian environment.

Choice 1 : Get into Police Technology.

Choice 2 : Pre-university Program.

Choice 3 : Dead end job.

Get into Police Technology.

When people you successfully passed the fitness test and medical test, you get into the program. Once in the program, you will be able to learn about the career by having Law, Sociology, Criminology classes. Police Technology classes are really teaching the basic notions of police work. To be able to have good grades in the program, you have to have great managing time skills, because the work charge can be overwhelming. Managing between Gym class, swimming lessons, running classes and all of the other complicated classes can be a real drawback, and you need to get ready. By studying Police Technology, you will have the chance to do internships and maybe get a job has a cadet as a part-time job which is a great opportunity to get some experience. After the three-year program, you have to go to the ENPQ which is the final training to become a police officer.

Choice 1 : ENPQ.

Choice 2 : Part time job/Summer job as a Cadet.

Choice 3 : Internships.

ENPQ.

ENPQ is the final training and the most important one. It is the place where you will learn how to shoot with a gun, drive urgency cars, do physical intervention, learn how to use nightstick and all the equipment. The ENPQ is located is in Nicolet and the training is 15 weeks long. After this training, everyone has to have a background check in order to be a police officer.

Choice 1 : Work for a small municipality.

Choice 2 : Work for a big municipality.

Choice 3 : Go to university.

Part time job/Summer job as a Cadet.

Being a Cadet for the SPVM is probably the most valuable experience in the police world that you can earn a wage. It will allow you to see the job from the inside and help society in another way. You can also make contacts, and it also allows you to know the ins-ans-outs of the job. Being a Cadet can be compared to on-the-job-training. There is no better way to know if the job is fit for you.

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Internships.

Being in Police Technology will give you the opportunity to do internships with Police Services such as SPVM, SPAL, SPDL and much more. Usually, students are able to do internships on their second or third year in the program. Being an intern is a great opportunity to learn the ins-and-out of the job and to have a foot in the door. More often than not, students end up working at the same police service because they already have learned the ropes.

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Work for a small municipality.

After the last training at Nicolet, you have completed every training to become a police officer. At this point you can choose to work for a small municipality such as Sainte-Thérèse de Blainville, Régie de Deux-Montagne, Vallée du Richelieu and so much more. Working for a small municipality have advantages. Indeed, being a police officer in a small town can be easier to have a family because you can be close to them. Also, there is less obligatory overtime which is perfect to get home on time to spend some quality time with your kids. However, for some people, working in a small town might seem boring to some people because the 911 calls are less intense. Some people are just not meant to work in a big city.

Choice 1 : Retirement.

Work for a big municipality.

After the last training at Nicolet, you have completed every training to become a police officer. At this point you can choose to work for a big municipality such as SPVM or SQ. Working for one of these also have a lot of advantages such as a much better pension, a retirement after only 25 years of service, premium wage after only six years of service and much more action. Indeed, you are more likely to use your gun by working in Montreal than in Sainte-Julie. However, working for a big Police Service also have disadvantage such as a lot of overtime, being far from your family and a difficult schedule to deal with. It's harder to have kids and be there for them when you're balancing between night and day shifts. Overall, both are great choices and people usually have to make pros and cons list.

Choice 1 : Retirement.

Choice 2 : Becoming a detective, S.W.A.T officer, GTI officer, etc.

Go to university.

After finishing your training at Nicolet to become a police officer, you can also choose to to to university. Indeed, plenty of people decide to continue their studies at university in Criminology, Social Services, Management, Mental Health and much more. Having some extra training at university can make you a better candidate to apply in Police Services and eventually becoming a Sargent, lieutenant or even a captain. It's also really useful in our society to have some officer with a better training when it comes to mental health situations.

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Dead end job.

Sometimes, when people don't get into Police Technology program, they give up. Which is really sad because if you get in on your first try, you can still get into the program on your second try. Unfortunately, some people just decide to give up school and get themselves a dead-end-job. Getting a dead-end job after High School isn't a bad thing, but it is unfortunate when it is because someone gave up on their dream to become a police officer. Not getting into the program is not due to a lack of talent but more to a lack of effort in High school which is totally normal because High School teach some really general stuff and not interesting to some people. It is normal not to give your hundred percent in some classes that you have no interest in and end up having bad grades.

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Pre-university Program.

If you don't get into Police Technology on your first try, fear not! Indeed, some people decide to make a pre-university program in CEGEP and apply after a year or two. Applying to a pre-university program is actually an amazing idea, because people can get use to CEGEP life which is a big difficulty when you get into Police Technology after High School. Actually, you have more chance of getting into the program if you have already done a semester in CEGEP so people are more likely to get into the program after a year or two. Besides, the program might be considerably easier for you if you have already been in CEGEP before. Overall, not getting into the program on your first try is not the end of the world and certainly not a drawback. It can actually be easier for you to get into in after.

Choice 1 : Get into Police Technology.

Choice 2 : Go to university.

Choice 3 : AEC.

Choice 4 : GRC.

AEC.

AEC is an intensive training that some school offers, affiliated to a certain Police Service. Basically, it's the Police Technology program in one year instead of three. There are some criteria to be able to do an AEC. First of all, you have to have a DEC, which means that you have to have graduated CEGEP in any program. You got to have some experience as a cadet, in Montreal for example. Finally, you got to have what we call a " job promise " which is an engagement that you have with a Police Service that you sign saying that at the end of you're training, you have to go work for them for at least five years. The AEC is equivalent to the CEGEP training which means that you still have to go to ENPQ after your studies.

Choice 1 : ENPQ.

Go to university.

By doing a pre-university program, you might find yourself interested in another field of study and might want to pursue your studies in that particular field.

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Retirement.

After a long career, it comes the moment when you have to retire and live off your pension. A retirement is perfect to travel and discover the world. It's the time when your mortgage is paid, and you can enjoy your life.

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Becoming a detective, S.W.A.T officer, GTI officer, etc.

In a Police Service, there are not only patrol officer, there are plenty of squads that are not well-known. For example, the detective squad where you become a detective and investigate cases like sexual harassment, robbery, murder and much more. You can also be in a big squad that does a lot of big intervention like the S.W.A.T or GTI. These are amazing experience.

Choice 1 : Retirement.

RCMP.

RCMP stands for Royal Canadian Mounted Police which is the equivalent to the FBI of Canada. GRC is Canada's Police Service. Even though we don't hear about it a lot, RCMP is actually the biggest Police Service in America. The training an intensive 6 months training in Regina, capital of British Colombia. You are housed and fed. However, RCMP is like SQ. It means that you will be traveling around Canada to work, or you will be assigned somewhere probably really far from where you live. You can also be transferred anywhere in your early career. Indeed, RCMP is extremely well-paid, between $100 000 and $500 000 per year, but it also means working far from where you are, and it is not ideal for people who want to build a family lifestyle. It is still an amazing Police Service. To apply, you need to be over 18, and it is preferable that you have some sort of diploma.

Choice 1 : Retirement.