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Municipal policing

Last updated on March 5, 2021

Under the Police Act, municipalities with populations 5,000 and over must provide their own law enforcement by:

  • Forming their own police department
  • Contracting with an existing police department
  • Contracting with the provincial government for RCMP police services

Municipal Police Departments

Twelve municipalities in British Columbia have eleven municipal police departments. They are:

  • Abbotsford
  • Central Saanich
  • Delta
  • Nelson
  • New Westminster
  • Oak Bay
  • Port Moody
  • Saanich
  • Vancouver
  • Victoria/Esquimalt
  • West Vancouver

These departments are governed by municipal police boards.

Funding

There are currently 12 municipalities in B.C. policed by 11 independent municipal police departments. These municipalities pay 100 percent of their policing costs from local property taxes.

RCMP Municipal Police Units

There are 63 municipalities in B.C. that contract with the province for RCMP municipal police services. The RCMP operates stand-alone, integrated and regional detachments across the province.

An integrated detachment is two or more municipal or provincial RCMP units working in the same building. The North Vancouver city, district and provincial RCMP units, for example, make up the North Vancouver detachment. The members from each unit in an integrated detachment report to the same commanding officer. Integrated detachments usually provide services to the combined municipal and provincial policing areas.

A regional detachment will manage integrated and independent detachments in an area. For example, the Kelowna Regional Detachment manages the West Kelowna Integrated Detachment (West Kelowna municipal unit and the Kelowna provincial unit) and the Lake Country Detachment (Lake Country municipal unit).

These arrangements allow specialized and administrative police services to be delivered regionally.

RCMP Municipal Police Service Agreements

The Municipal Police Service Agreement (PDF) between British Columbia and Canada permits the province to sub-contract the RCMP provincial force to municipalities.

There are different cost-sharing formulas for municipalities with RCMP contracts.

Municipalities with populations from 5,000 to 14,999 pay 70 percent of the cost base described in the policing agreements. The federal government pays the remaining 30 percent.

Municipalities with populations of 15,000 or more pay 90 percent of the cost base described in the policing agreements. The federal government pays the remaining 10 percent.

The costs are outlined in the agreement, including:

  • Members' pay and allowances
  • Employer contributions to member pension and benefits
  • Transportation
  • Professional and special services
  • Equipment
  • Recruit training costs
  • Some administration costs

There are some policing costs for which the municipality is 100 percent responsible, including:

  • Detachment buildings and cells
  • Civilian support staff and furniture