Become an Officer

As per provincial guidelines, anyone interested in a policing career must write the Alberta Police Cognitive Ability Test (APCAT).

The Alberta Police Cognitive Abilities Test is a job-related written examination.  Applicants are given a pre-test booklet during the examination and are allowed to study it for 30 minutes.  The pre-test booklet is then removed and the test is administered over the next two hours and 15 minutes.  The result of this test is valid for five years.

Candidates may rewrite the APCAT if they did not achieve the cut-score one month (30 days) after their first test attempt, three (3) months after their second test attempt, and six (6) months after each subsequent test attempt.  

Register to take the APCAT here.

A-PREP (Alberta Physical Readiness Evaluation for Police) is the police recruit selection physical abilities test used by all municipal police agencies in Alberta.

The A-PREP has three separate components:

1. a screening component to ensure the applicant is medically suitable to undergo the test;
2. a series of job simulation tasks arranged in a Pursuit/Restraint Circuit; and
3. an assessment of aerobic fitness (the Aerobic Shuttle Run).

Before attempting the A-PREP, you will be required to obtain a medical clearance form. 

The A-PREP results are valid for six (6) months.

Applicants can make arrangements to retake the test immediately. If an applicant fails on the second test there is a two (2) month waiting period before the A-PREP can be attempted again and then a two (2) month waiting period for each successive fail.

Learn more about the A-PREP here.

The Behavioural Descriptive Interview (BDI) is based on the philosophy that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. The interview is designed to assess your character as it relates to the chosen competencies:

1. Adaptability/Decisiveness
The ability and confidence to vary between being flexible and holding firm on a decision, depending on what the situation requires, showing leadership by adjusting one’s approach to the demands of a particular task or by taking and maintaining a position in a self-assured manner.

2. Initiative/Perseverance
The ability to be willing to take action to address needs without being requested to do so, staying on task to completion, particularly in the face of obstacles or other trying circumstances.

3. Interpersonal Skills
The ability to work effectively with different people and teams of people by putting others at ease, acknowledging diverse opinions, addressing relevant concerns, minimizing conflict, promoting harmony, cooperating with others, and working toward consensual solutions to achieve the group’s objectives.

4. Organizational Skills
The ability to identify and set priorities, to plan and effectively allocate appropriate resources, and to attend to detail so that relevant issues are addressed and high quality outcomes result.

5. Stress Management
The ability to work well under pressure or opposition, while maintaining effectiveness and self- control in the midst of any one or combination of stressors, including emotional strain, ambiguity, risk to self, and fatigue.

6. Valuing Service and Diversity
The ability to be sensitive to client and community needs and perceptions by providing prompt, efficient, and equitable service and involving clients and community in the resolution of problems that affect them.

*Responses to questions during the Behavior Descriptive Interview are to be in the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action and Result).

You will meet with a member of our recruiting team and review in significant detail your Personal Disclosure Form and personal history.

All municipal police services in the Province of Alberta conduct a Personal Disclosure Interview for the purposes of assessing the applicant’s overall competitiveness, organizational fit, and to assess the accuracy and completeness of disclosures supplied by an applicant in the Application and Personal Disclosure forms.



Though a police service may compare the results of the PDI conducted by another Provincial police service, they are not obligated to accept those results.  Nothing prohibits a police service from conducting additional interviews as deemed necessary.



Candidates may be removed from the selection process based on disclosures made during this assessment, if the agency believes the applicant simply does not meet the organizational needs, or if the agency believes the applicant is simply not competitive with other applications.

A specially trained polygraphist will conduct this examination for the purpose of information verification  to check the accuracy and completeness of disclosures supplied by an applicant. Please note that we conduct a pre-employment polygraph, not a criminal interrogation.

Psychological testing is intended to review your suitability as a police officer. These tests may take several hours to complete and are not something you can study for.

Background investigators will conduct reference checks and interview various people from your life, including present and past employers and colleagues, friends, neighbours, etc. They will contact people you have identified in your application package and others you have not.

Your applicant package is reviewed in its entirety to determine suitability for the Grande Prairie Police Service and competitiveness against others in the applicant pool. The recruiting officer will then present your application to a board of police management and HR professionals to determine suitability for hire.

Those selected as most competitive will receive a conditional offer of employment where you will complete a pre-employment medical and an Enhanced RCMP Reliability Status Clearance.

· be a minimum of 18 years of age at the time of application;

· possess a Grade 12 high school diploma or equivalent;

· have good ethical character (not engaged in criminal activity, detected or undetected, in the last three years)

· be in excellent health and physical condition;

· meet visual and hearing examination standards;

· be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;

· possess a valid driver’s licence with a maximum of five demerits (graduated driver’s licence not accepted);

· not have a criminal conviction for which a pardon has not been granted.

· Constable 5 $76,856

· Constable 4 $82,555

· Constable 3 $93,933

· Constable 2 $105,310

· Constable 1 $113,859

· Sr. Cst I (7 years) $121,826

· Sr. Cst II (11 years) $124,114

Yes, at the Constable 5 rate.

Our recruit training program is approximately six months in duration.

All uniforms and equipment are provided.

Our classroom facilities are located in the City of Grande Prairie. Firearms, driving, and police control tactic training will be done at other locations in and around the city.

GPPS officers will work at the existing Grande Prairie RCMP Detachment through the transition. They will report to the local RCMP Detachment Commander until GPPS officers make up the bulk of the local police force and GPPS becomes the police of jurisdiction.

GPPS training will meet or exceed policing standards. We have partnered with an accredited institution the classroom portion of our cadet training. Our instructors are former RCMP officers who were trained as instructors in multiple disciplines. 

Adaptability/Decisiveness
The ability and confidence to vary between being flexible and holding firm on a decision, depending on what the situation requires, showing leadership by adjusting one’s approach to the demands of a particular task or by taking and maintaining a position in a self-assured manner.

Conscientiousness
The degree to which someone is honest, has integrity, accepts responsibility for their actions, has high ethical standards, earns the trust of others by consistently demonstrating sound moral principles, does the right thing, and reliably fulfills commitments through self-discipline and sense of duty.

Initiative/Perseverance
The willingness to take action to address needs without being requested to do so, staying on task to completion, particularly in the face of obstacles or other trying circumstances.

Interpersonal Skills
The ability to work effectively with different people and teams of people by putting others at ease, acknowledging diverse opinions, addressing relevant concerns, minimizing conflict, promoting harmony, cooperating with others, and working toward consensual solutions to achieve group objectives.

Judgement/ Problem Solving
The ability to assess situations and problems, identify possible actions/solutions, and make sound decisions based on facts, logic, and probable outcomes.

Learning-Memory-Recall
The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills on the job, and to observe, remember, and recall significant information and events (e.g., people, vehicles, facts, suspicious behaviour, environmental details, etc.)

Organization Skills
The ability to identify and set priorities, to plan and effectively allocate resources, and to attend to details so that relevant issues are addressed and high quality outcomes result.

Stress Management
The ability to work well under pressure, maintaining effectiveness and self-control in the midst of any one or combination of stressors, including emotional strain, ambiguity, risk to self, and fatigue.

Valuing Service & Diversity
The sensitivity to client and community needs and perceptions by providing prompt, efficient and equitable service, and involving clients and community in the resolution of problems that affect them.

Verbal & Written Communication Skills
The ability to communicate in both oral and written form, including giving (speaking and writing) and receiving (listening and reading) information in a way that ensures messages are understood.

Yes, it's possible you can be placed directly into a plainclothes position at the Grande Prairie detachment.  However, operational needs at the detachment may require the RCMP Detachment Commander to redeploy you to General Duty at some point during the transition.  This will be determined in consultation between the GPPS Chief of Police and the local RCMP Detachment Commander based on deployment needs at the detachment until GPPS becomes the Police of Jurisdiction.

Additionally, GPPS will be creating a tenure policy that will likely limit a member's deployment to a plainclothes unit to five years.  While you may start in a plainclothes position, you will be required to deploy to other frontline positions. This may include General Duty, Beats, Tactical, Canine, Forensics, Youth Engagement, Community Engagement, and School Resource Officers. This will provide you with an opportunity to develop your skills and share your experience with others in the service.  GPPS has the rank of Detective for investigative roles, which is aligned with the rank of Sergeant.

We are actively recruiting a wide range of skills and experience to fill positions such as plainclothes units, and value the diverse backgrounds of experienced officers.