Peterborough Police Service is in the running for a national Excellence Award

The Peterborough Police Service is thrilled to announce we have been shortlisted for an award at 2025 Canadian HR Awards.

The Service submitted a nomination in the Most Effective Recruitment Strategy category for our innovative approach to recruitment over the past 18 months. The Peterborough Police Service was selected as one of 11 nominees and is the only police service amongst those in the running.

The Peterborough Police Service recruitment strategy focused on three key areas:

Partnership with Fleming College – our Recruitment and Talent Acquisition Coordinator is bringing real world experience to the classroom
Community Engagement and Inclusivity – Officers (many recent recruits) presenting to international students at orientation sessions
The Shuttle Run Training Group

The Shuttle Run Training Group was developed in 2023 by the Peterborough Police Service in partnership with Fleming College and the Police Foundations Program and is a safe space for potential prospects to test themselves on the physical requirements for policing. The Shuttle Run Training Group runs every Wednesday from September to June at the Peterborough Sport and Wellness Centre from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. During that time participants can try one of two of the physical requirements for policing - the “Shuttle Run”/ beep test or the “Prep Test”. See the schedule for more details.

In 2024, the Service also introduced a “Women’s Only Shuttle Run Training Group” to encourage more women to pursue a career in policing.

By offering these open opportunities to the public we are hoping to encourage more people to consider policing as a career or even a second career and to engage with our recruitment team.

These combined recruitment efforts have allowed the Peterborough Police Service to:

Establish a sustainable talent pipeline of well-prepared, resilient, and community-oriented officers.
Attain full authorized staffing levels in the summer of 2024. The Police Service Board established the authorized staffing levels based on budget allocation. While this is not a static situation as it is impacted by leaves, retirements, and resignations, it was something that had not been achieved by the Peterborough Police Service in over a decade and happened at a time when police recruiting was in a crisis.
Develop a new hire orientation and onboarding program.
Be recognized in the September/October issue of the national policing magazine, Canada Blue Line Magazine, in the feature article “From Crisis to Solution: Navigating Police Recruitment in Canada.”

We continue to hire both civilian and sworn staff, and if you would like to be notified of career opportunities at the Peterborough Police Service, please subscribe to our online external job board click on “Career Alert”.

The Canadian HR Awards continues to be the premier event for recognizing excellence and innovation in human resources across the country. Award recipients will be announced on September 18, 2025, at a ceremony in Toronto.

Sandra Dueck
Manager, Strategic Communication Services
Peterborough Police Service
sdueck@peterborough.ca
705-876-1122 x217

Background Information:

The following are staffing levels as of the end of March 2025:

When talking about staffing there are three numbers:

Authorized Sworn Strength refers to the number Officers that the Board budgets for = 165 Officers
Actual Sworn Strength refers to the total number of Officers we have at any given time
Fully Deployable Sworn Strength refers to the number of Officers who have their Use of Force equipment and are physically and medically able to respond to calls for service = 140 Officers (Q1 2025)

At the end of March 2025, there were 25 Officers who were not considered fully deployable for a number of reasons including:

Officers absent due to injury (e.g. WSIB); (9 or 5.45% of Authorized Strength; included in 25)
Officers who are accommodated but working every day, and performing police work behind the scenes;
Officers absent due to maternity / paternity leave;
Officers in training with their Coach Officers post-Police College; and
Recruits in training at the Police College