Canada's police services reported the most officers per capita this year since 1993, according to a report released Friday from Statistics Canada.
The report states the country's police forces employed 64,134 officers on May 15 of this year, a 2.7 per cent increase from 2006.
Ontario and British Columbia alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total increase of about 1,700 male and female officers.
In total, Canada had 195 officers per 100,000 population.
Police forces employed 11,853 female police officers this year, which resulted in a six per cent increase from 2006 numbers. The number of male officers rose two per cent.
The total increase represented the second largest annual rise over the past 30 years.
Canada's police rate peaked in 1975 with 206 officers per 100,000 population, but steadily declined over the past 20 years.
The country's police strength was far below that of other industrialized nations such as the United States, England, Wales and Australia. Those countries reported police numbers between 222 to 270 officers per 100,000 population.
Since 1997, all provinces have recorded increases with the largest gains reported for Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan reported the highest increases in 2007 with 207 officers per 100,000 population, followed by Manitoba and Quebec.
Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest numbers in 2007 with all three provinces reporting fewer than 166 officers per 100,000 population.
Thunder Bay, Ont.; Winnipeg; St. John, N.B.; and Montreal had the highest numbers for census metropolitan areas. Among the lowest were Saguenay, Que.; Kingston, Ont.; and Gatineau, Que.
Over the past 30 years, Canadian police have consistently cleared roughly one in every three cases.
"Police strength, the volume and type of crimes and the complexity of police investigations are among the many factors that may affect clearance rates, defined as the proportion of all crimes solved by police," the report stated.
Overall, police cleared 36 per cent of cases last year.
StatsCan found police solved violent crimes at a significantly higher rate. In 2006, police solved 72 per cent of all violent crimes reported in Canada, up from 69 per cent in 2004.
In 2006, police spending totalled $10 billion.
