Chapter 6: Thematic Issues — Federal Policing recruitment and training
Special Report on the Federal Policing Mandate of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Federal Policing recruitment and training
137. Federal Policing’s approaches to recruitment and training have, until recently, depended on the RCMP's broader strategies, which primarily support its Contract Policing mandate. For the most part, Federal Policing does not recruit directly from RCMP Depot, because the training there focuses almost exclusively on general duty policing and recruits usually lack the experience and knowledge required to work in the Federal mandate. Footnote 231 Federal investigations require investigators to apply critical thinking and research and analysis skills to complex files concerning the most severe threats to Canada and Canadians. Footnote 232 Federal investigative files may require specialized knowledge, take place over several years, and involve coordination with law enforcement partners across multiple jurisdictions, including internationally. Footnote 233 As a result, Federal Policing primarily recruits experienced Regular Members within the broader RCMP. On average, Regular Members join the Federal Policing program after having worked in Contract Policing for 10 years. Footnote 234 This experience provides new Federal Policing recruits with knowledge and expertise in complex investigations applicable to Federal Policing.
138. Federal Policing has recently noted that this approach to recruitment does not sufficiently support the Federal mandate. Footnote 235 One challenge is simply numbers. As described earlier, the Federal Policing program has seen a steady decline in the numbers of police officers working in the Federal mandate, due to financial pressures and the RCMP’s wider staffing challenges. Another challenge is internal. There is no formal recruitment path to transition from one mandate to the other; Regular Members simply indicate that they are interested in joining Federal Policing or apply for positions internally. There is also no developed career path from Contract Policing to Federal Policing; Regular Members transfer at their own preference and often return to the Contract mandate due to the greater number of promotional opportunities. Footnote 236 Finally, Federal Policing has struggled to source all the skills, education and experience required to conduct increasingly complex and specialized investigations in the modern criminal threat environment.
139. The Federal Policing program is currently implementing three new initiatives to address its recruiting challenges. The first is the Retired Police Officer Initiative. Launched in 2019, this initiative is meant to bring in existing, pre-trained talent to Federal Policing, and typically involves short-term contracts for recently retired police officers. Footnote 237 Federal Policing has hired 10 police officers since the inception of the plan, and has no fixed target for recruitment in the future. The second is the Experienced Police Officer initiative through which the RCMP is seeking to hire individuals from other police forces and the military police.
140. The third and largest initiative is the Civilian Investigators Initiative. The Federal Policing program identified civilian investigators as a possible solution to the shortage of Regular Members. Launched in 2021, the initiative began with a focus on attracting civilians with expertise relevant to cyber or financial crime investigations, with plans to expand to other areas of the Federal mandate thereafter. Footnote 238 In such investigations, there is no requirement for certain types of foundational police training (e.g., firearms) and civilians would be trained to write operational plans and judicial authorizations for covert entry or wiretaps. These areas also require specialized training and education, in fields such as computer science and forensic accounting, that civilians may possess (see case study 2 below). The initial goal of the initiative was to hire 35 civilian investigators to work on cyber and financial crime investigations in the four divisions where the majority of federal investigations take place: Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Footnote 239 Since the plan’s inception in 2021, Federal Policing has hired 25 personnel, 13 of whom already worked for the RCMP. Footnote 240 The Federal Policing program intends to increase the number of Civilian Investigators as a proportion of the Federal Policing workforce to 30% within 10-15 years.241
141. Federal Policing recognizes that this initiative may face cultural challenges. Federal Policing noted that Regular Members may not welcome that integration of Civilian Investigators into Federal units, as investigations have traditionally been the role of police officers. Regular Members have also raised concerns that civilian investigators would take away police positions and promotional opportunities. Footnote 242 The National Police Federation, the union which represents the Regular Members of the RCMP, stated that “the RCMP must have the necessary funding to continue training new recruits and developing the skills of seasoned Members… Making policing an attractive career choice is the best way to sustain service standards and to ensure staffing levels are appropriate for the workload at any given time.” Footnote 243
142. Federal Policing has also identified the current model of training as ill-suited for current investigative requirements. The RCMP has traditionally relied on Regular Members to develop investigative experience in the field rather than receive it through training. Footnote 244 Federal Policing augments this experience through specialized training to prepare individuals for federal investigations. Footnote 245 When a Regular Member joins the Federal Policing program, they are required to take courses in the investigative area where they will be working. Footnote 246 Additionally, specialized courses are offered when possible. For example, Regular Members working in national security investigations must take a five-day national security investigative course; optional courses include specialized areas of terrorist financing or violent extremism risk assessment.
143. The Federal Policing mandate’s approach to training faces challenges. As of 2021, all Federal Policing training for investigations, intelligence and covert operations was outdated, with programs failing to keep pace with new criminal threats, recommendations from audits and reviews, or changing legislation. Footnote 247 Moreover, the governance of training is largely dependent on training units in individual provinces, many of which have their own budgets and training priorities. This results in inconsistent training for Federal Policing employees depending on their location in Canada. The RCMP also noted that, “[t]his de-centralized approach results in a duplication of efforts, resourcing challenges, various training budgets, ad-hoc training development and delivery and a lack of national oversight and accountability of the Federal Policing training program at large.” Footnote 248
144. In response, Federal Policing has considered several solutions to its training challenges. In 2021, Federal Policing developed a proposal for a Federal Policing Training Academy. The proposal would have implemented a more structured approach to training members across the country. Under the proposed approach, trainees would have access to an up-to-date, consistent training curriculum. This curriculum would be designed to build the investigational knowledge and skills required to conduct Federal investigations. Following general training, recruits would be able to take advanced training within their particular areas of specialization (e.g. national security, financial crime, and border enforcement). Footnote 249 It would have also seen Regular Members recruited directly into Federal Policing and complete all their training at the Academy, rather than at Depot. Similarly, those who entered the program as Experienced Police Officers and Civilian Investigators would have received training at the Academy. This proposal was not approved by the Senior Executive Committee. Footnote 250
145. Federal Policing is now working to implement a direct entry program through Depot.251 This would allow Regular Members, Civilian Investigators and Experienced Police Officers to receive variations of a shortened police training curriculum before completing Federal Policing specific courses and specialized training in areas such as national security or financial crime. The first component of this curriculum, the Federal Policing Investigations Course, was implemented in September 2022. There is no deadline to implement the rest of the curriculum. Footnote 252