RCMP's recruitment plight could threaten its ability to do its job, advisory board warns

The RCMP's recruitment situation can be described accurately as a crisis, says the force's independent advisory board — one that could threaten its ability to serve as Canada's national police force.

That's the conclusion of a report by the Management Advisory Board, an oversight body that advises the RCMP commissioner, following a review of the RCMP's cadet training program. The report was written by a board task force focused on the issue of training.

The report, shared with CBC News, recommends an overhaul of what cadets are taught at the RCMP's depot in Regina to keep pace with modern policing.

"More than once, the task force heard the recruitment situation described as a 'crisis,' a descriptor that did not strike the task force as exaggerated," the board members wrote.

"If these [regular members] are not replaced by new cadets from diverse backgrounds and with capacity to serve, the RCMP will be even more challenged to meet its service delivery commitments under the provincial, territorial and municipal police service agreements, and to maintain federal policing capacity."

"It is a very, very significant challenge," said Angela Campbell, a professor of law at McGill University and a member of the advisory board's task force.

"So we recommended some concrete measures that we hope the RCMP will take to boost recruitment generally, but specifically, the recruitment of Indigenous members."

The RCMP's federal policing mandate covers some of its highest-profile cases, including investigations into foreign interference and espionage.

The force's struggle to lay charges related to allegations of foreign interference was thrust into the spotlight by claims that Beijing meddled in the past two Canadian federal elections. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme has said publicly he'd like to see more charges laid on the foreign interference file.

Through provincial, territorial and municipal policing contracts, the RCMP also serves as the police of jurisdiction in most provinces and about 150 municipalities.

Nadine Huggins, the RCMP's chief human resources officer, said recruitment is a concern but insisted the force won't have to drop any of its responsibilities. 

"There is no question that recruitment is the top priority within the organization at this time, and we have been building and flying at the same time," she said.

"I think that policing writ large is going through a reckoning. The RCMP is no different."

Part of the RCMP's problem is that repeated reports of systemic racism and harassment in the ranks are depressing recruitment.