The NPF is focused on improving public safety in Canada by increasing resources, equipment, training, and other supports for our Members and have provided three actionable recommendations to the Federal Government.
Recommendation 1: Provide $24 million annually to permanently increase the RCMP cadet training allowance to $1,200 per week to align with the other police services training in Canada.
Police recruitment, consistent with all labour markets, has faced challenges since the beginning of the pandemic. For the RCMP, this started with the pandemic-related closure of Depot in 2020, followed by a decline in training capacity (due to physical distancing requirements) and applications. The NPF and the RCMP have since undertaken several successful initiatives to increase recruitment, resulting in a resurgence in applications and new cadets entering the training program.
While RCMP recruitment is recovering from the pandemic, it is important to note that applications are on the rise. Just last year, the RCMP received over 10,000 applications.
To ensure that all funded positions are filled, the federal government must continue to address systemic barriers to attract and train more candidates, continuing to make the RCMP a more competitive employer. Many police services across Canada have incentivized their recruiting process for applicants, and to attract experienced officers to join their service. For example, Victoria Police Service was offering experienced police officers a $20,000 signing bonus, and Ontario recently dropped the basic constable tuition fee of $15,450 for recruit training. Recruits attending training, in most provincial and municipal services, are salaried employees from day one of training, making those police services a more attractive employer as training can take months to complete.
To remain competitive, the RCMP must appropriately compensate cadets while they attend Depot for training. The federal government must increase the RCMP cadet allowance amount to $1,200 per week. This would bring RCMP cadets in line with the compensations provided to other police officer recruits in Canada.
Additional 2024 Federal Budget Recommendations
1. Invest $5 million to conduct and design a financial and governance modeling study on the implementation of a Canadian Public Safety Broadband Network.
2. Invest $20 million over three years with ongoing funding to expand the delivery of the RCMP’s Disability Management and Accommodation Program.
About the National Police Federation
The National Police Federation (NPF) is the sole certified bargaining agent representing ~20,000 Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) across Canada and internationally. The NPF is the largest police labour relations organization in Canada and is the first independent national association to represent RCMP Members.
