Transition Binder: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Reform

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner, with the support of Public Safety Canada, is pursuing a transformation agenda to ensure a sustainable organization that delivers modern policing services, one that is healthy, characterized by inclusivity and respect, and trusted by employees, partners and the Canadian public. Success will require continued action to respond to evolving public expectations, address critical issues such as systemic racism and discrimination in policing, and adapt to an evolving criminal landscape.

This note provides an overview of the issues facing the RCMP with a focus on work to reform and modernize the RCMP, as well as some of the actions taken to date in this regard.

Relevant Mandate Letter Commitments

Further Information

The RCMP is a complex and multi-faceted organization that is implementing a comprehensive modernization agenda.This has been instigated by a number of factors including the reports and reviews in the last several years that have recommendations on organizational reform, including: changes to workplace culture, improved governance and oversight, and sustainability of operations. In addition, the organization is seeing declines in measures of public trust and confidence due to several high profile incidents and awareness of organizational challenges.

In March 2023, Commissioner Michael Duheme was appointed with a continued mandate to modernize the RCMP with a particular focus on supporting employee wellness, addressing harassment and violence in the workplace, and enhancing the organization's role in reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. While there is much work to do, progress is being made and there is a recognition that in any organization, and particularly one with such a long and storied history, change will take time.

Internally, change has been supported through the RCMP's Vision 150 and Beyond modernization plan, which is central to shifting the RCMP's organizational culture, governance practices, workplace capabilities and overall accountability. More recently, a dedicated transformation unit has been created reporting directly to the Commissioner to lead internal transformation, including response to significant reports, such as the Mass Casualty Commission final report. In 2019, the RCMP Management Advisory Board (MAB) was established to provide the Commissioner with expert external advice on the management and administration of the RCMP, including advice on transformation. A modern labour relations regime for the RCMP has been achieved through the August 2021 signing by the National Police Federation and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat of the first ever collective agreement for non-commissioned Regular Members (RMs) and Reservists. A second round of collective bargaining concluded on June 24, 2024 and the third round is currently ongoing as of December 5, 2024.

Workplace Change (Improving RCMP Culture)

Challenges with the RCMP's organizational culture have been highlighted in multiple reports over the past two decades. For example, the 2020 report by the Honourable Michel Bastarache on the implementation of the Merlo-Davidson Settlement Agreement detailed violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination experienced by women employed by the RCMP between 1974 and 2017, and outlined the toxic culture of the RCMP over many years. The Bastarache report and those that came before, highlighted the need for sustained changes in key areas to contribute to meaningful changes to workplace culture, including: improved RCMP governance; strengthened diversity and inclusion; improved harassment prevention and resolution; and enhanced leadership development and professionalization.

The RCMP's public response to the Bastarache report, released in November 2020, commits to a long-term holistic approach to culture change and an RCMP free of workplace harassment, violence and discrimination. The response builds on actions already underway through the RCMP's broader modernization plan, points to important progress made to date and highlights four priority areas for action, including:

Enhanced Governance and Accountability (Improving Oversight)

There is heightened public awareness around issues of excessive use-of-force and systemic racism in law enforcement organizations. Studies conducted by the Angus Reid Institute and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation indicate public concern over police interactions with Indigenous and racialized people, as well as the overrepresentation of these populations in incidents involving the use of deadly force.

Key reports from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) and the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security have made specific recommendations for improved RCMP accountability and oversight, such as reduced response times to reports issued by the CRCC. Some of these considerations were addressed with the passage of the Public Complaints and Review Commission Act on October 31, 2024.

In response to several use-of-force incidents, the use of body-worn cameras across the RCMP is being implemented as a means of enhancing transparency and accountability. The RCMP is also taking specific actions to promote de-escalation and the reduction of use-of-force in interactions with the public by updating its mandatory training and de-escalation tools. The RCMP will also improve its data collection practices and is committed to publishing information on calls for service, wellness checks and use-of-force. Additionally, the RCMP has partnered with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) to create a Task Force to standardize and improve police response options at the national level, as well as associated training, focusing on de-escalation, crisis intervention and responding to mental health incidents.

Efforts are also underway to address vacancies on both the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission and the Management Advisory Board.

Sustainability of Operations (Restoring Federal Policing Mandate)

RCMP federal policing has received considerable media attention given growing concerns around national security, foreign interference, and more recently border integrity issues connected to illicit financing, human trafficking and fentanyl.

Over the past decade, a number of internal and external reviews, including a 2023 Special Report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians have highlighted the longstanding challenges faced by RCMP Federal Policing.

In Spring of 2024, on the direction of the Prime Minister, Public Safety Canada undertook a review of the federal policing program and identified a number of systemic challenges impacting its sustainability:

Following consultations with provinces, territories, international partners such as Australia, United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the RCMP and central agencies, Public Safety Canada is developing different policy options to overcome these systemic challenges and to ensure Federal Policing has the appropriate resources and structures in place to meet the complex and evolving threat environment.

Provincial/Territorial and Key Stakeholder Perspectives

The administration of justice, including policing, falls under the constitutional responsibility of provinces and territories who delegate fiscal and governance responsibility to larger, urban municipal governments. Jurisdictions that contract RCMP policing services expect to be meaningfully consulted on changes to how the RCMP delivers its policing services and the future of contract policing.

In May 2024, Public Safety Canada completed the Ministers mandate letter commitment to conduct an assessment of contract policing in consultation with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners and stakeholders. We heard during the assessment that there is growing concern with:

Some provinces and municipalities have indicated they are examining transitions from RCMP policing services to independent police services. Currently, transitions are occurring in Surrey, British Columbia and Grande Prairie, Alberta. The policing contracts require the federal government to work with any contract partner to ensure a safe and effective transition. Lessons learned from the transition in Surrey will help inform future transition processes in other contract policing municipalities should they occur.

Some provinces have also undertaken efforts to examine local governance and policing, and have opted to change municipal and/or policing boundary lines through efforts of municipal amalgamations or policing review. Where the RCMP is police of jurisdiction, it must respond accordingly per provincial direction on both a municipal and provincial level. As experienced in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, the RCMP policing territory is adjusted in accordance with the shifted boundary lines, scaling police services up or down, and in some cases implementing small scale transitions with independent police services.

Public Safety Canada continues to work with contract provinces and territories to advance work on a path forward for the renegotiation of the Police Service Agreements (PSAs) which expire in 2032. Discussions on the path forward will build on the assessment of contract policing, and will continue with Federal/Provincial/Territorial Deputy Ministers in the new year.

Separate from focused engagements on the path forward for renegotiation, PS will continue to lead the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Contract Management Committee, as contractually required under the PSAs, as an information sharing forum to foster timely consultation and collaboration on issues affecting the governance, cost and quality of police services or a RCMP program, prior to federal decisions being taken.

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