41310 Police investigators and other investigative occupations

What this occupation covers

Police investigators and professionals in related investigative occupations follow leads and investigate circumstances relating to crimes committed and obtain information to prevent crimes. They plan and coordinate investigations, collect evidence, interview suspects, victims, witnesses and other stakeholders, conduct surveillance and testify in court. They are employed by municipal, provincial and federal governments. This unit group includes coroners and medical examiners.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 15 main duties for this code.

• Interviews persons in connection with criminal incidents, including victims, witnesses and suspects
• Exchange information and coordinate activities with other law enforcements agencies
• Prepare investigation reports and testify in courts concerning criminal investigations
• Search and collect physical evidence from crimes scenes, such as fingerprints, and attend autopsies
• Perform surveillance by using investigative technologies
• Obtain search warrants, conduct searches and arrest suspects
• May conduct investigation on online networks and computer systems to detect cyber crimes or to recover data.
• May supervise and coordinate the work of police officers.
• Conduct death investigations to determine the identity of the deceased, date and location of death, medical cause of death, and manner of death
• Order or perform autopsies and other medical tests
• Consult with and request assistance from law enforcement, physicians, and family
• Issue death certificates, including assigning cause and manner of death
• Identify and educate the public on dangerous practices or conditions that may lead to death
• May testify or produce evidence in proceedings about observations made during investigations
• May supervisor and coordinator work of other employees.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 3 of its 15 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 40040 Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services
• 42100 Police officers (except commissioned)
• 64410 Security guards and related security service occupations

Excluded from this code

• Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services (See 40040 Commissioned police officers and related occupations in public protection services)
• Police officers (except commissioned) (See 42100 Police officers (except commissioned))
• Private detective (See 64410 Security guards and related security service occupations)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) investigator · coroner · counterfeit and forgery section detective · cybercrime investigator · dark web detective · detective - police · detective sergeant - police · drug investigator - police · investigator - police · medical examiner · narcotics detective · narcotics squad investigator · police investigator · railway investigator - police · vice squad detective

Employment requirements

• Police Investigators
• Completion of secondary school is required.
• Several years of experience as a police officers are required.
• Completion of a university degree in police investigation is required in Quebec.
• Specialized training or certification may be required for certain areas of investigation.
• Coroners and medical examiners
• In Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, a medical examiner is required to be a physician with an active medical license.
• In Ontario and Prince Edward Island, coroners are required to be a physician with an active medical license.
• In Quebec, coroners are required to be a non-retired member of the Collège des médecins du Québec, the Barreau du Québec or the Chambre des notaires du Québec, and have a minimum of four years of professional experience in their practice.
• In British Columbia, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Yukon, it is preferred coroners have education and experience in the legal, medical or investigative fields.