Complete psychological and medical suitability assessments
After completing the suitability interview, you will need to see RCMP-designated physicians and psychologists for a medical and psychological suitability assessments. If successful at these stages, you will receive your medical clearance.
This part of the process is divided into two distinct stages:
- the Psychological Suitability Screening (PSS); and
- the Medical Screening Process (MSP)
You will be required to undergo all the steps of the PSS and be deemed psychologically qualified before you can continue to the medical screening.
The RCMP will cover the cost of these basic assessments.
Psychological and medical suitability standards
While physically and mentally demanding incidents may not always happen often in policing, when they do, they may be intense and life threatening.
Our standards ensure that applicants can keep up with the psychological and physical demands of:
- the training to be a police officer
- the role of an operational police officer
Police officers must meet health requirements to safely carry out four key parts of the job:
- operational driving
- use of firearms and other intervention equipment
- physical confrontation and use of force
- operational decision-making
Psychological Suitability Screening
This evaluation helps to determine whether you have the necessary psychological qualities to be a police officer.
You will complete a pre-interview questionnaire. In it you must list any past or current psychological conditions or concerns and provide additional health information. All answers should be complete and accurate. If there are significant gaps, missing details, or incorrect information your application may be rejected. This will be added to your medical file.
Before you begin the testing, you must sign a consent form. By signing, you'll agree that you won't have access to any reports, test results or feedback from your Psychological Suitability Screening.
The evaluation will include:
- standardized psychological testing
- an interview
- a review of collateral or third-party information
The collateral information may include insights gathered in other steps of the RCMP selection process, such as the suitability interview, polygraph, reference checks, medical and security. It may also include a review of prior psychological or neuropsychological assessments that you provided to the RCMP or that were performed at the time of previous job applications. The suitability team will review your results and make an overall recommendation.
Even if you don't have a mental illness, the Psychological Suitability Screening may conclude that you're not psychologically suitable for a policing role with the RCMP. A history of psychological difficulties does not automatically mean your application will be rejected.
If you do have a history of psychological difficulties, you may need to provide documentation that shows:
- how your difficulties were resolved; and/or
- how you've functioned successfully over time
This information will help us assess your suitability for the role.
Medical Screening Process
The Medical Screening Process is a fitness for duty assessment. You will complete this phase after passing the Psychological Suitability Screening. All relevant reports and information gathered during the psychological screening will be used as part of the full review of your file.
The assessment of your fitness for duty includes:
- a review of current and past medical and psychological conditions
- their impact on your ability to perform essential operational police duties
Medical health information
The medical health information gathered during your Medical Screening Process includes:
- a clinical health history
- a physical examination
- lab tests
Completing the fitness for duty assessment
To complete your fitness for duty assessment, the RCMP Health Services Officer may request that you provide additional information from your primary health care provider or your specialist such as:
- copies of relevant medical records
- specialist consultations
- further testing or investigations to better understand any condition that may affect your physical or psychological functioning in a policing role
You may not meet the minimum fitness for duty requirements if you have a medical or psychological condition, treatment, limitation, or restriction that:
- impairs performance to the degree that you cannot complete essential duties safely and effectively
- increases risk, to an unacceptable level, to your personal health
- increases risk of sudden incapacitation or impaired judgment
- could spread an infectious disease to coworkers or the public
- makes you ineligible to drive professionally under the Canadian Medical Association guidelines
Immunizations and tuberculosis status
We recommend that you get the following immunizations and a tuberculosis screening prior to applying. You will be required to submit a complete RCMP Applicant Immunization and Tuberculosis Test Record form before you begin cadet training at Depot.
The following adult immunizations should be up to date:
- tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap)
- measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
- hepatitis B series
Your RCMP Applicant Immunization and Tuberculosis Test Record form will also need to document results from the following test:
- two-step tuberculin skin test (Mantoux), include date, results in millimetre and signature of provider reading results. This will require 4 separate appointments
- chest x-ray (only if positive Mantoux at 10 millimetres or greater)
- Date modified: