Riding the Wave of Change
The challenges of the RCMP's dual mandate and the uncertain future of contract policing
In recent years, the RCMP has been increasingly embroiled in controversies. The growing sophistication of crimes in the cyber and financial space, as well as the rise of terrorism and organized crime worldwide, have called into question whether the RCMP is equipped to handle the threats of today and those of tomorrow.
One of the most important things to understand about the RCMP is that it has two distinct and sometimes conflicting roles. The first is federal policing. As Canada’s national police force, they enforce federal laws nationwide and conduct investigations into various issues. These issues include:
Border Integrity
Cybercrime
Financial Crime
International Policing
Intelligence
National Security
Protective Policing
Sensitive and International Investigations
Serious and Organized crime
Witness protection
The second role of the RCMP is something called contract policing. Canada is a massive and, in some areas, very sparsely populated country. As a result, the RCMP is under contract with eleven of Canada’s provinces and territories, over 150 municipalities and 600 indigenous communities to serve as their police force enforcing the laws of that particular jurisdiction. Quebec (Surete du Quebec), Ontario (Ontario Provincial Police) and some parts of Newfoundland (Royal Newfoundland Constabulary) have their police forces responsible for provincial law enforcement. This puts the RCMP in a unique position compared to its counterparts worldwide, like, for example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Unlike the United States, which separates criminal investigation agencies, like the FBI, from police services, Canada combines the two. This organization is deployed nationwide and responsible for everything from routine traffic stops in the remote North-West Territories to investigating international financial crimes. The roots of this unique arrangement can be explained by looking at the RCMP’s history.
History of RCMP
The RCMP was established in 1920 and combined two earlier police forces in Canada. The Royal North-West Mountain Police and the Dominion Police. The RNWMP and Dominion Police were two very different organizations. The RNWMP was mainly for enforcing the power of Ottawa in the vast and sparsely populated territory of Western Canada and the territories in the 1800s. The Dominion Police’s primary purpose was to enforce federal statutes and protect parliament buildings in Ottawa. This combination of the two police forces (technically, the RNWMP absorbed the Dominion Police and was then renamed the RCMP) meant this organization had massive responsibilities, from small-town bicycle thieves to organized crime and protecting the prime minister. Since the 1920s, Canada has changed a lot, but the structure of the RCMP has stayed relatively the same. The population of Canada in 1920 was just above 8.5 million people. By 1980, two generations later, Ontario alone had 8.5 million people. Now, the “frontier” of western Canada is gone and is not some distant, isolated part of Canada.
The RCMP Today
When researching this article, it was interesting to see how much the RCMP is responsible for with a relatively small number of employees. The total workforce of the RCMP, according to their website, was 30,500 in 2021. This is broken down into 19,000 police officers and 11,000 civilians. The FBI has around 35,000 employees for a population around eight times the size but with no policing duties like the RCMP. This is important since most RCMP employees work in contract/indigenous policing. In 2021-22, 17,700 out of 30,000 employees worked in contract policing. Only 5,000 employees at the RCMP worked in federal policing in 2022. They were responsible for Border Integrity (along with the Canadian Border Security Agency), Cybercrime, Financial Crime, International Policing, intelligence, National Security, Protective Policing, International Investigations, Serious and Organized Crime, and Canada’s Witness Protection program.
This is a lot for 5,000 people to handle; they used to be in charge of more. In 1984, the Canadian Parliament split off the duties of foreign and domestic intelligence gathering from the RCMP and created the Canadian Security and Intelligence Establishment (CSIS). This was in the wake of controversies about how the RCMP’s Security Service (the branch responsible for intelligence) had conducted itself.
There is no doubt that the RCMP needs changes. With the organization’s 150th anniversary in 2023, it has highlighted the RCMP’s complex history, its issues regarding inclusion and sexual harassment in its ranks, and how to grapple with and evolve past its colonial legacy.
In August 2023, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians completed a five-year-long Special Report on the Federal Policing Mandate of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Below is an excerpt from the executive summary outlining the challenges the RCMP faced in federal policing.
The Federal Policing mandate is affected by the RCMP’s long focus on Contract Policing, which has shaped the RCMP’s organizational structure, governance, finances, and human resource and training models. Against this background, Federal Policing has struggled with challenges internal to its program. These include weak governance and prioritization of federal activities and investigations; poor data and data management; an intelligence function misaligned with federal requirements; and recruitment and training models ill-suited to its mandate.
This report goes into detail and shows that the RCMP requires reform, but whether or not scraping contract policing entirely is the solution remains to be seen.
In January 2022, the federal government started reviewing the RCMP’s contract policing obligations. The RCMP’s current policing agreements at the municipal, provincial, and territorial levels are all set to expire in 2032. What this review means is unclear, but it has spotlighted the RCMP and its ability to be an effective police force in the modern age. This has left many, both in the RCMP and outside, uneasy about the prospect of ending contract policing. There have been reports that the government is considering scrapping the contract model, but nothing is official yet.
An article posted by the National Police Federation (RCMP’s Union) makes it clear that the government of Canada has not shared any intention to end contract policing in Canada. In Spring 2023, the president of the RCMP’s union, Brian Sauve, wrote an Edmonton Journal article reassuring Canadians, specifically Albertans, that there would be no end to contract policing.
The end of contract policing would be the biggest shake-up in the RCMP’s history and fundamentally change how police work is conducted in Canada. Yes, it would mean that the RCMP could now solely focus on its role as federal police, but the transition away from contract policing would be challenging since it is unclear what or who would take its place. Would this mean every territory and municipality would get its police force? Where would the police officers come from, and who would train them?
Hopefully, we will get some of these answers and more when the review of the RCMP’s contract policing obligations is concluded, but so far, there is no sign as to when that will be.