Police officer
$70,000 – $110,000
Degree not required but increasingly favoured
Degree guide
what can i do with a criminology degree?
Picked by everyone who loved true crime, kept by the ones who discover the justice system is bigger and stranger than the documentaries. The real destinations, ranked by realism.
Most crim jobs are not the FBI, and that is fine
The realistic map: policing, corrections, border services, community justice, insurance investigation, policy. The degree is a strong feeder into all of them — but note that policing doesn't require it, and forensics (the lab kind) requires science instead. Know which door you actually want before year three.
Jobs and salary context
Typical Canadian ranges from Job Bank medians, checked Oct 2026. Actual outcomes vary by role, location, experience, and employer.
Border services officer
$65,000 – $90,000
Federal, competitive, pensioned
Probation / parole officer
$60,000 – $85,000
The under-discussed core of the field
Corrections officer
$55,000 – $80,000
Direct entry with training academy
Insurance / fraud investigator
$55,000 – $85,000
The private-sector lane nobody mentions
Crime / intelligence analyst
$60,000 – $90,000
Add data skills and this opens
FAQ
Do I need a criminology degree to be a police officer?
No — most services ask for a high school diploma plus life experience (Quebec requires a college diploma in police technology). The degree helps competitively and feeds promotion later, but if policing is the certain goal, the degree is one route, not the toll gate.
Criminology vs forensic science?
Completely different degrees: criminology is social science about crime and justice; forensic science is chemistry and biology in a lab. The TV shows blend them; universities do not. CSI-style lab work needs the science degree.
What if I decide against policing?
The degree's quiet strength: probation, border services, insurance investigation, court services and policy all hire crim grads, and most of those careers are pension-carrying government work.