Corrine Joan Scott, O.M., M.B.A.

Corrine Scott entered policing, with the Winnipeg Police Service, as a uniformed officer in 1981, when there were few women in the service. Policing was, and to a large degree remains, a male-dominated field. Female officers were often undervalued in terms of policing abilities and leadership skills and they had to battle resistance to their transfers to specialty areas and promotion through the ranks.

Within four years, Scott began to conquer some of these barriers. She was selected for a position in the drug squad, where she worked in an undercover unit and gained a reputation as a skilled investigator. She was authentic in her work and highly valued as a professional.

Scott rose quickly in the service, leading programs, instituting change and creating policies and practices that assisted all members. She became the first female officer to hold all the ranks, from constable to superintendent.

She invested in herself through higher education, obtaining her master of business administration degree in 2009. She mentored many police officers throughout her career. Scott participated in research and policy development, locally and nationally, through her participation with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Corrine also helped to lead international change for women through her participation with the International Association of Women Police.

She was the first woman to become a superintendent in the WPS, and for several years, was the highest-ranking female police officer in Manitoba.

In 2002, Scott founded the WPS Policewomen’s Network. Its mandate includes recruitment, retention, mentorship and support of female officers.

Scott represented Manitoba as a police executive member on the National Police Service Advisory Committee. She was responsible for the allocation of funding, services and programming for several national police programs, including the national police information system, laboratory services, firearms control, and other items of national interest to police agencies.

From 2006 to December 2009, Scott served as aide-de-camp to the late John Harvard, lieutenant-governor of Manitoba.


She has augmented her professional life with volunteer-board participation serving on the boards of Balmoral Hall School, Commissionaires Manitoba and Snowflake Place for Children & Youth. Her participation was always grounded in enriching the community and improving the lives of Canadians, with a focus on young people and the vulnerable.

Scott’s contributions to governance, policy development, programming, and how these fit into the context of law, law enforcement and recovery, will endure for many years.

Her list of awards and accomplishments include: The Governor General’s Exemplary Service Medal in 2002, the Manitoba Attorney General’s Excellence in Law Enforcement Award in 2007, and a second Governor General’s Exemplary Service Medal in 2012.

Scott’s commitment to policing for the citizens of this province, and her support for women in policing, was recognized by her induction into the Order of Manitoba in 2009.

Corrine Scott’s story is that of a trailblazer in the Winnipeg Police Service – a woman who broke the glass ceiling in her profession.