This series of stories looks at the representation of women in frontline and senior officer positions in local police services across Canada. Drawing upon personnel data submitted annually by municipal police departments to Statistics Canada’s Police Administration Survey, we identified the 75 police services that had at least 100 sworn officers in 2023 and then ranked them based on the proportion of women in each service.
The 30×30 Initiative, a coalition of Canadian and American police agencies and researchers supporting the advancement of women in policing, suggests a group must make up at least 30 per cent of an organization before it can influence its culture. The Local News Data Hub’s analysis found that across Canada only nine of the 75 local police services met that threshold despite evidence suggesting women officers are often preferred by victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, are less likely to use force, and may be better at de-escalating tense situations.