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.

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. 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.

SPS is approved to move forward. The transition to a municipal police service was endorsed by Surrey City Council in 2018. Since that time, the Province of BC has established a Surrey Police Board, and the Board established the Surrey Police Service in 2020. Please visit our policing transition page for more information. 

The Surrey Policing Transition Trilateral Committee (SPTTC), made up of representatives from the three levels of government, agreed to a phased transition process and the first group of 50 SPS officers assumed operational policing duties in December 2021.  The officers were assigned to positions within the RCMP Municipal Police Unit in Surrey (i.e. Surrey RCMP).

SPS continues to work with all three levels of government and the RCMP through the many complexities of the largest police transition in Canada.

The mandate for a municipal police service has been set and the SPS is 100% committed to fulfilling that mandate in the most methodical and respectful ways possible.

As we build SPS, we will primarily be posting positions by Bureau (Community Policing, Investigative Services, Support Services). There are opportunities during the application process that will allow you to identify skills sets that may be important for specific positions/Bureaus.

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. Current Corporals are invited to apply for Sergeant or Constable roles, depending on their experience, skill set and career goals.

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

SPS participates in the BC Municipal Pension Plan, one of the largest pension plans in Canada. Although we cannot provide pension advice, we have assembled general information for applicants, including RCMP members with federal pensions, who may wish to join SPS. 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 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.

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.

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. Consideration is being given to multiple models from across the country and any future changes will be driven by call response data and operating procedures that will best serve the City of Surrey, ensuring public safety and employee wellness.

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

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.

The first SPS officers were deployed in 2021 to operational policing duties within the Surrey RCMP. An exact timeline for when SPS will become the police of jurisdiction will need to be agreed upon by the three levels of government, in consultation with the Surrey RCMP.