RCAF career (1975-1984)

Paulson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Pilot after high school,^[2] serving from 1977 - 1984. He worked as a flight instructor and aviation administrator at CFB Moose Jaw and CFB North Bay. He left the Canadian Forces in 1984.

RCMP career (1986-2017)

Following his military career, Paulson spent two years at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby and then joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a Cadet in 1986.^[2] Paulson's first posting was to the Chilliwack RCMP Detachment. He spent the next 19 years in various RCMP postings in British Columbia before being transferred to National Headquarters in Ottawa.^[4] Paulson was the driving force behind Operation E-Pandora against the Hells Angels East End Vancouver chapter. In 2006 Paulson told the journalists William Marsden and Julian Sher: "The East End chapter is the most senior, the most powerful. If we were successful in taking them out, that's where we would have the most impact on their operations".^[5] As part of E-Pandora, in October 2003 Paulson signed on the behalf of the RCMP the contract with the informer Michael Plante.^[6]

From November 2010 to November 2011 Paulson served as the Deputy Commissioner for Federal Policing.

On 21 November 2011 Paulson was promoted to Commissioner,^[7][8] one month following the release of his predecessor's recommendations about the Mayerthorpe killing spree.^[9]

In December 2013 Paulson refused to comment on proposed changes to the way police deal with marijuana offences. He was quoted as saying "I'm a simple country cop, you know? I'm in the business of policing and others are in the business of policy and law".^[10] However, the following year he opined "The people that use drugs are not the people we got to be bothering, right? We've got to be sort of helping them."^[11]

As per RCMP memo RCMP Paulson retired on 30 June 2017,^[12] one week before his glacial rollout of the C8 carbine was the crux in the Canadian Labour Code trial of the RCMP over the 2015 Bourque killing spree.^[13] The result of the trial was the conviction of the organization led by Paulson for close to seven years.^[14]