Royal Canadian Mounted Police 2021‑2022 Departmental Results Report

Operational efforts

During 2021-22, the RCMP:

• expanded background checks for licence eligibility from five years to the applicant's lifetime and strengthened restrictions on authorizations to transport restricted or prohibited firearms;
• traced assets in support of requests received from Ukraine and collated all assets frozen by third parties under the Special Economic Measures Act;
• fully staffed its Integrated Money Laundering Investigative Teams and continued to solidify its partnerships with anti-money laundering regime partners to support its responses to the most serious money laundering threats in Canada;
• oversaw the implementation of the Emergency Economic Measures Order during the illegal Freedom Convoy occupations in February 2022; and
• increased its intelligence assessment capacity regarding ideologically motivated criminality, which was valuable during the illegal blockades and occupations that occurred in Ottawa and across Canada during early 2022.

Modernization initiatives

During 2021-22, the RCMP:

• initiated an external review of its Conduct Measures Guide to assess current disciplinary measures and their application and ensure they meet modern expectations of adequacy, fairness, transparency, and effectiveness;
• established the RCMP-Indigenous Collaboration, Co-Development and Accountability office to mobilize the RCMP to increase recruitment, retention, and advancement of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples and to create leadership development opportunities for Indigenous employees;
• finalized divisional reconciliation strategies, ^{Endnote 4} which continue to be implemented in consultation and collaboration with local First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities, and are a key part of truth-telling and accountability to strengthen trust with Indigenous Peoples;
• integrated 10 civilian criminal investigators into cybercrime and Integrated Market Enforcement Teams in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec to advance diversity and support complex Federal Policing Investigations with specialized skills, knowledge, and experience;
• updated its police intervention training to more fully integrate and emphasize crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques and strategies;
• launched the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution on June 30, 2021, in line with recommendations of external reports, to provide enhanced prevention and response to workplace harassment and violence, with decision-making outside the chain of command;
• expanded the use of digital tools for employees, such as MS Teams, which have been configured to the RCMP's heightened security requirements;
• implemented specific modules on the victimization of Indigenous women and girls into the Human Trafficking Investigator Course at the Canadian Police College, which fulfilled certain recommendations from the Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls;
• outsourced its psychological suitability screening and medical assessment to reduce backlog and impacts on Occupational Health Services, which is expected to reduce the average processing time from four months to 45 days;
• developed a policy for the use of body-worn cameras based on the evaluation of a six-month pilot in Iqaluit, as well as extensive engagement with a number of key stakeholders from Indigenous and other racialized communities;
• saw its non-commissioned members and reservists receive consistent terms and conditions of employment and an established labour relations framework through the signing of its first collective agreement; and
• laid the groundwork for an upcoming pilot of operational uniform shirts with new designs and features with a diverse group of RCMP member representatives across Canada, and identified other uniform modernization initiatives, such as faith-based headdresses and Indigenous items.

For more information of the RCMP's plans, priorities, and results achieved, see the "Results: what we achieved" section of this report.

Description

Federal Policing addresses the most serious and complex criminal threats to the safety and security of Canadians and Canadian interests, including democratic institutions, economic integrity, and physical and cyber infrastructure. Through Federal Policing, the RCMP prevents, detects, and investigates national security, cybercrime, and transnational and serious organized crime, including financial crime. In addition, it enforces federal statutes, conducts international policing activities, and upholds Canada's border integrity and the security of significant government-led events, designated officials, and dignitaries.

Results

Protective Services

In advance of the federal election in September 2021, the RCMP provided protection for the Prime Minister as well as all leaders of federal parties with official party status. In 2021, this included the leaders of the Conservative, Bloc Québécois, and New Democratic parties.

In 2021-22, in direct support of the Minister of Public Safety's mandate commitment, ^{Endnote 5} the RCMP began reallocating resources to establish a dedicated Ministerial Liaison Team. This team establishes relationships with political offices that receive RCMP protective services in an effort to better understand client security and protection concerns, follow up on the effectiveness of RCMP protective services, and coordinate and liaise with other security and intelligence partners.

International Policing

During the reporting period, the RCMP deployed a total of 54 Canadian police officers to missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali, and the West Bank. As part of these deployments, officers strengthened foreign law enforcement capacity by providing training, mentoring, and delivering strategic advice to help establish effective law enforcement institutions. Specifically:

• Canadian police officers deployed to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo supported efforts to prevent, address, investigate, and prosecute sexual and gender-based violence through the Specialized Police Team on sexual and gender-based violence
• Canadian personnel deployed to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti provided mentorship and strategic advice to senior and middle-level Haitian National Police management on sexual and gender-based violence issues

The RCMP also deployed officers to its mission in Ukraine during the year, but these officers were repatriated and the mission was suspended due to the escalation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Officers were also seconded to:

• the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands and conducted investigations in Sudan and the Central African Republic;
• the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in Switzerland to deliver training in support of the capacity development needs of individuals, organizations, and institutions; and
• Canada's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

To disrupt transnational crime at its source before it reaches Canada or affects Canadian interests:

• liaison officers and analysts deployed overseas assisted in several investigations targeting an international drug trafficking operation in the US, which resulted in significant arrests and seizures;
• the RCMP developed 246 intelligence products in support of Federal Policing's mandate;
• as part of Canada's Migrants Smuggling Prevention Strategy, Canada leveraged external partnerships to assist in disrupting several operations involving migrant smuggling to Canada via air, sea or land modes of transportation; and
• INTERPOL and EUROPOL Ottawa facilitated the exchange of information with offices abroad and supported investigations, including issuing red notices and subsequent apprehensions of individuals involved in crimes that spanned international borders.

Federal Policing Prevention and Engagement

In 2021-22, the Federal Policing Prevention and Engagement Unit and the First Responder Terrorism Awareness Program merged to become the Federal Policing Strategic Engagement and Awareness Unit. This single team addresses all Federal Policing strategic priorities within its awareness mandate and is better positioned to operate with a more fulsome perspective of all Federal Policing issues and engage with key partners in a more strategic manner.

In addressing Federal Policing priority enforcement areas, Federal Policing Strategic Engagement and Awareness collaborated with key partners and developed a variety of awareness products for stakeholders on topics such as insider risk, fraud, clandestine synthetic drug labs, cryptocurrency, and cybercrime. It also developed a guide called Reporting Suspicious Incidents to Police ^{Endnote 6} with information for the public on how to recognize and report behaviours that may be linked to hate crimes, radicalization to violence, extremist propaganda, and/or terrorism mobilization.

Federal Operations Support

Over the reporting period, Federal Policing made strides towards improving information technology and advancing the integration of administrative and operational data to ensure it is available to support decision-making. Some notable achievements included:

• replacing aging equipment, foundational services, and national infrastructure to modernize the RCMP's national information technology system that stores and processes data from National Security investigations and operations;
  • this included adding new features and functionalities related to enhanced security and data loss prevention in alignment with the Canadian Committee on National Security Systems' safeguarding requirements;
• the continued use of Federal Policing's Integrated Collaborative Environment, which allows for collaboration on, and automation of, key documents and reports;
• furthering the use of Federal Policing's secure, non-proprietary platform that manages large sets of data as part of significant police investigations;
• establishing the Data Operations Tactical Sciences service, which provides tailored analytical services to investigators and analysts to discover information of operational value; and
  • During the year, Data Operations Tactical Sciences supported 18 investigations across seven RCMP divisions with fraudulent activity pattern discovery, location data analysis, image analysis, and analytic visualizations.

Governance

Federal Policing continued to develop a plan of action to restore Federal Policing capacity and leverage civilian expertise in the coming years. This is in an effort to bolster core activities such as intelligence analysis and international policing, as well as to advance and streamline investigations.

In 2021, the RCMP expanded these potential opportunities by creating a new investigative role, the Civilian Criminal Investigator. These positions are currently focused on supporting investigations into financial crime and cybercrime, as Federal Policing seeks to keep pace with the rapidly evolving criminal landscape in these sectors.

Federal Policing also launched FOYER, a centralized, secure workspace for completing investigational forms in an interactive environment, and a key source of business intelligence. FOYER helps guide employees through the necessary workflow to report on major investigational projects and standardizes common datasets. The resulting datasets are shared easily and securely to help inform decision-making.

GBA Plus

• Within its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, Federal Policing advanced GBA Plus as a key priority in its national collective staffing efforts. It made modifications to its assessment processes to ensure it is looking for hidden biases, removing potential barriers to diverse groups, and establishing diverse hiring boards.
• Federal Policing established a Covert Operations Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to amplify diverse voices and provide a reoccurring opportunity to:
  • discuss issues concerning Equity, Diversity and Inclusion within the RCMP's Covert Operations Branch;
  • identify goals that align with Covert Operations' Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and implement action plans to achieve them; and
  • monitor and report on progress on these commitments.
• The Witness Protection Program applied GBA Plus as part of its protectee assessment. Upon admission to the program, each protectee undertakes a series of assessments to create a case management plan to address their unique safety, security, and other needs. Furthermore, Witness Protection Program continued its targeted staffing efforts to employ members from diverse backgrounds and experiences to better reflect the changing needs of the Program and the environment in which it operates.

Results achieved for Federal Policing

The following table shows, for Federal Policing, the results achieved, the performance indicators, the targets, and the target dates for 2021-22, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase ^{Endnote 24} .

Budgetary financial resources Federal Policing (dollars)

The following table shows, for Federal Policing, budgetary spending for 2021-22, as well as actual spending for that year.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 26}

Human Resources for Federal Policing (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to fulfill this core responsibility for 2021-22.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 27}

Description

Externally, the RCMP provides specialized and technical services to all Canadian law enforcement agencies, which include advanced training for law enforcement; national criminal data repositories; firearms regulation and licensing; and investigative tools and services, including forensics, identification, firearms and child exploitation. Internally, a diverse range of technical services are also provided to advance RCMP operations and investigations, such as the collection of digital evidence and cybercrime intelligence, the delivery of policing information technology tools, and the implementation of departmental and personnel security standards.

Results

Description

Under the Police Service Agreements, the RCMP provides policing services to the provinces (except Ontario and Québec) and territories, as well as municipalities and Indigenous communities including through the First Nations Policing Program. Their services include the general administration of justice, consisting of the preservation of peace, prevention of crime, and fulfilment of all duties as outlined under the laws of Canada or the laws of respective provinces and territories.

Results

Indigenous Policing

In addition to regularly scheduled meetings with the Commissioner, the Commissioner's National Indigenous Advisory Committee members participated in a total of 10 consultations with the RCMP in 2021-22. These consultations explored the nature of the RCMP's collaboration with Indigenous organizations and communities and the extent to which it affects trust. They provided perspectives on the barriers to building trust between the RCMP and Indigenous Peoples, and also suggested opportunities to enhance the RCMP's reconciliation actions moving forward.

Contract and Indigenous Policing Operations Support

The RCMP's Sexual Assault Review Team continued to review recently concluded, unfounded sexual assault files to identify areas where guidance and policy could be improved for investigations. During the fiscal year, the Sexual Assault Review Team reviewed approximately 400 unfounded files and developed guidance and training to further enhance investigators' skills towards conducting thorough, victim-centred, trauma-informed investigations in line with RCMP best practices, policies, and applicable legislation.

The Sexual Assault Review Team continued piloting its Sexual Offence Investigations online course. An in-person, three-day course on sexual offence investigations was also developed and successfully delivered to RCMP members in the Northwest Territories and Yukon.

Force Generation

Continuing COVID-19 restrictions in 2021-22 severely impacted the RCMP's ability to sustain and meet previous targets for force generation. This, coupled with the competition among other police services to recruit from a limited talent pool for specialized candidates, has led to a decline in the number of applicants to the RCMP in 2021-22. The RCMP received 9,964 applications during the fiscal year, as compared to the 11,800 it received in 2020-21. The same decline is being experienced in the retention and recruitment of public servants. In 2021-22, the RCMP experienced almost double the attrition rate (9.97%) compared to last year (5.72%) for public servants, who fulfill the enabling functions of the RCMP. This is attributed to an increase of retirements and resignations in 2021-22 (828) compared to the previous year (460).

Recruitment Modernization

To meet recruiting targets in the future, the RCMP is prioritizing modernizing its recruitment and retention models and approaches. Modernization efforts focused on ensuring the RCMP is recruiting the right people for the right roles, and who have the balance of characteristics, attributes, and diversity of identity and experience to be successful modern-day police officers. The National Recruiting Program partnered with external expertise and worked on three key projects, which included:

• conducting an end-to-end review of the National Recruiting Program;
• developing a model to define characteristics and attributes for general duty police officers and specialized policing areas; and
• successfully launching the Recruitment Evaluation Centres as a new component in the Regular Member recruitment process, where candidates are assessed on modernized characteristics and attributes during a two-day immersive event through a number of simulations, exercises, fitness testing, and interviews.

This year, the National Recruiting Program took steps to support recruitment renewal, including the modernization of the RCMP's Online Entrance Assessment. Candidates can now be assessed virtually on cognitive aptitude and suitability for employment as RCMP police officers, which reduces the time to process candidates by eliminating in-person testing sessions. The RCMP also outsourced its Psychological Suitability Screening and Medical Assessment to reduce backlog and impacts on Occupational Health Services. This new model is expected to significantly reduce the average processing time of applicants. National Recruiting Program also developed and implemented a standardized work description and training curriculum for Proactive Recruiters to properly reflect their roles, which will be used to train new and current proactive recruiters across the country for dynamic outreach with communities.

Recruiting Employees from Racialized and Indigenous Communities

During the year, the RCMP also continued its efforts on recruiting applicants from racialized and Indigenous communities through initiatives such as:

• piloting a program with Makigiaqta Inuit Training Corporation to help Inuit gain the skills and training required (such as literacy, numeracy, first aid and driver's licences) to successfully complete the RCMP's recruiting process; and
• hosting the annual Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program, an immersive 3-week program at the RCMP Training Academy for up to 32 Indigenous youth from across the country to learn more about the RCMP. Following the Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program, candidates receive a 90-day assignment in their home detachment to reinforce their engagement with the organization and ideally apply to the RCMP.

As a result, in 2021-22:

• 7% of RCMP regular members self-identified as Indigenous Peoples; and
• 12% of RCMP regular members self-identified as members of a visible minority.

GBA Plus

GBA Plus was considered in the development and roll out of the pilot project for body-worn cameras as held from November 2020 to May 2021 in Iqaluit, with 53 officers wearing body-worn cameras. During the pilot, approximately 14% of all occurrences were recorded, resulting in 3,652 videos. A total of 73 community members and 13 RCMP members participated in surveys about their perceptions of body-worn cameras and their experiences during the pilot, with the following results:

• 68.5% reported that body-worn cameras increased their trust in the police;
• 77.2% reported that body-worn cameras helped the police be more transparent;
• 61.5% reported that body-worn cameras increased public safety; and
• 1.4% reported that body-worn cameras improved the relationship between the police and the community.

Overall, most RCMP members surveyed indicated that body-worn cameras make them feel safer on the job (61.6%), and they supported adopting body-worn cameras for all front-line members (85%). Race-based analysis on the community survey data found three notable findings among respondents who identified as Inuit:

• 69% reported believing that body-worn cameras would reduce police use of force;
• 31% reported concerns that body-worn cameras might be an invasion of their own privacy and their community's privacy (38 per cent); and
• 15% reported having greater cultural, religious, and spiritual concerns with regard to body-worn cameras.

Experimentation

There is a continued focus on improving police interactions with and responses to persons with mental illness (PMI). During the year, work continued on a collaborative, multi-method, cross-jurisdictional study between Carleton University, the National Police Federation, the Canadian Police Association, and the RCMP to study the nature of police interactions with PMIs in Canada. The study seeks to understand the approaches used by Canadian police services to respond to mental health calls and the demands these calls place on the police.

The RCMP Operational Research Unit, in collaboration with National Youth Services, continued piloting the LifeSkills Training in Alberta, Manitoba, and New Brunswick. LifeSkills Training is an evidence-based substance abuse prevention and lifestyle program for youth that focuses on changing behaviours and, more specifically, helping students develop general social skills, tobacco/alcohol/drug resistance skills, and personal self-management skills (for example decision-making). The ongoing evaluation will assess whether the RCMP should recommend LifeSkills Training as an approved substance use prevention program. If recommendations support implementation, the LifeSkills Training would be rolled out nationally to replace the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and Aboriginal Shield.

Results achieved

The following table shows, for Contract and Indigenous Policing, the results achieved, the performance indicators, the targets, and the target dates for 2021-22, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 68}

Budgetary financial resources Contract and Indigenous Policing (dollars)

The following table shows, for Contract and Indigenous Policing, budgetary spending for 2021-22, as well as actual spending for that year.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 70}

Human Resources for Contract and Indigenous Policing (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to fulfill this core responsibility for 2021-22.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 71}

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the internal services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

• acquisition management services
• communication services
• financial management services
• human resources management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• legal services
• materiel management services
• management and oversight services
• real property management services

Results

Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution

In line with external reports and recommendations to improve the RCMP harassment resolution process, a new independent harassment and violence prevention resolution regime, the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, was launched on June 30, 2021. The Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution gives employees a trusted and consistent harassment resolution process that resides outside of the RCMP chain of command and is accessible and supports accountability. The Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, an independent unit in the RCMP that reports to a senior civilian official and is staffed by civilians, received 373 notices of occurrence of harassment between January 1, 2021 and December 1, 2021, and 132 notices of occurrence between January 2022 and March 31, 2022.

Comparatively, prior to implementation of the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, the RCMP received 213 harassment complaints in 2020 and 190 in 2019. Complaints received from Regular and Civilian Members of the RCMP during this time were investigated by internal investigators. The increase in volume was anticipated and demonstrates employee willingness to engage with this new mechanism to address complaints. Most alleged incidents reported to the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution to date relate to allegations of abuse of authority or discrimination. The third most reported incident type was interpersonal deportment (i.e. a behaviour that caused offense to someone), while complaints about sexual harassment made up about 10% of all reported incidents.

As of January 1, 2021, investigations of harassment and violence complaints in the RCMP are solely being conducted by external investigators, using Public Services and Procurement Canada's mandatory National Master Standing Offer. While the increase in volume of complaints was anticipated, the supply of external investigators has not met the growing demand of requests from RCMP employees for investigations.

During its first six months of operation, the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution hired staff and established and refined its intake and file management processes and procedures. A new unit to offer enhanced support to victims of criminal offences and enhance support to complainants was introduced in November 2021.

On July 30, 2021, the RCMP released the new Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention, Investigation and Resolution Policy, which is now accessible to all RCMP employees. The policy focuses on harassment and violence prevention and resolution, but does not address the discipline process. A communique was distributed to inform all employees of the new policy and key changes, which allow for a more robust policy approach to preventing and addressing harassment and violence in the RCMP workplace.

As part of this new policy, retaliation of any kind for submitting a notice of occurrence to the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution is considered a form of harassment, which can be reported. Additionally, the Public Servant Disclosure Protection Act ^{Endnote 72} complaint process is also available to employees who face reprisal as a result of bringing forward complaints of wrongdoing in the workplace.

Collective Bargaining and Labour Relations

A key milestone achieved during the reporting period was the signing and implementation of the RCMP's first collective agreement for regular members (under the rank of Inspector) and reservists, which provides for consistent terms and conditions of employment and establishes a labour relations framework that supports both employees and effective police operations.

Action, Innovation and Modernization

Action, Innovation and Modernization provided centralized coordination, capacity, and oversight for the RCMP's Vision 150 & Beyond modernization plan, including leading key initiatives related to modernization and culture change. It also led efforts to advance GBA Plus across the organization as well as innovation and experimentation, as detailed below.

GBA Plus Centre of Expertise

Action, Innovation and Modernization has been working to increase the RCMP's internal GBA Plus capacity to ensure the consideration of diverse community needs, to foster a more inclusive workplace, and as a key tool to support overall modernization. Action, Innovation and Modernization provided centralized governance, advice, and support to RCMP senior management and RCMP employees on the application of GBA Plus, including by collaborating directly with RCMP subject matter experts on priority initiatives. Through ongoing engagement and training, internal GBA Plus capacity continues to be enhanced to ensure RCMP policies, programs, operations, and decision-making are informed by the consideration of diverse experiences and needs.

The RCMP GBA Plus Network, which includes representatives from all RCMP business lines and most divisions, continued to meet quarterly to support GBA Plus capacity building by providing a forum to discuss priorities, common issues, and to share knowledge, resources and tools. A series of GBA Plus awareness and training sessions were held to better equip network members with the practical knowledge to support divisions and business lines in consistently applying GBA Plus.

Modernization and innovation

In 2021-22, the Action, Innovation and Modernization unit:

• continued to work with contracted professional services resources to support modernization efforts, which resulted in more than 44 products and services delivered and over 30 short-term outcomes achieved including the renewal of the RCMP's Core Values and development of an Organizational Values Statement;
• added to existing networks to establish an Innovation Hub that will facilitate collaboration and information exchange on innovation and modernization priorities with internal and external stakeholders;
• worked through Innovative Solutions Canada to establish innovation contracts with industry to improve key equipment - including the development respirators that can be worn with facial hair - in support of diversity and inclusion objectives;
• launched culture change pilot projects in two RCMP divisions - Prince Edward Island and Nunavut - focusing on the implementation of key behaviours to effect culture change, based on an internally tested approach; and
• laid the groundwork for an upcoming pilot project of operational uniform shirts with new designs and features with a diverse group of RCMP police officer representatives across Canada, and identified other uniform modernization initiatives such as faith-based headdresses and Indigenous items.

Access to Information and Privacy Modernization

During the year, the RCMP developed and launched a modernization strategy ^{Endnote 73} and action plan ^{Endnote 74} for its Access to Information and Privacy program. The plan, which is being implemented over the next five years, addresses recommendations made by the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada and fulfills the RCMP's obligations under both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. This year, the Access to Information and Privacy program:

• reorganized its branch into three separate streams that will provide the necessary leadership and resources to the core functions of Information Access, Privacy, and Operational support;
• developed and launched a new online, internal Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals course for its employees, resulting in 6% of its workforce successfully completing it within four and a half months; and
• developed a number of key tools and manuals including an Access to Information and Privacy reference manual, an Access to Information and Privacy front-line contact card, and educational material for RCMP divisional staff on the importance of Access to Information and Privacy.

These, and other efforts, are resulting in some tangible early results, with significant improvements to compliance rates under the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act.

Professional Responsibility Sector

As part of its efforts to improve its response times to interim reports from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, the RCMP achieved the following results:

• all new interim reports received from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission since April 1, 2021 have been responded to within six months, as per the service standard agreed to between the RCMP and the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission;
• the backlog of interim report responses received prior to April 1, 2021 was eliminated on November 26, 2021; and
• the RCMP responded to 150 Civilian Review and Complaints Commission interim reports from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

In response to recommendations in the Final Report on the Implementation of the Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement, ^{Endnote 75} the RCMP initiated a review of its Conduct Measures Guide in 2021-22. The RCMP hired an external expert in October 2021 to conduct this review of current disciplinary measures and their application to ensure they meet modern expectations of adequacy, fairness, transparency, and effectiveness. The objective of the work is to ensure there is a trusted and effective conduct regime that is inclusive of appropriate conduct measures and in line with employee and public expectations.

The review is organized around two phases: Phase 1 focused on cases of established conduct related to harassment and sexual misconduct. Phase 2 will focus on the review of established conduct related to the remaining sections of the Code of Conduct. The Phase 1 report was received on February 24, 2022. The report and recommendations were shared, and discussions are ongoing with RCMP senior management and a panel of key internal stakeholders, including bargaining agents.

As part of Vision 150, the RCMP's core values were reviewed, renewed, and approved in 2021-22 through an internal and external engagement process to ensure the values were inclusive, well-understood, and continued to reflect a modern Canada. The consultations included employees, Indigenous nation builders, community stakeholders, bargaining agents, and the RCMP Management Advisory Board. Based on a recommendation from the RCMP Management Advisory Board, an organizational values statement was also developed to pledge the commitment of all employees to live the core values in the workplace and in our communities, in order to maintain and build trust and confidence.

Corporate Management

GBA Plus

• GBA Plus was applied to the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution through the collection of self-identification data during the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution intake process to better understand the experiences of diverse groups of employees. This ensures a trauma-informed approach for those who access the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, and supports them throughout the process;
• GBA Plus was used in the implementation of the new RCMP National Harassment and Violence Policy; and
• GBA Plus was integrated and applied within the RCMP's body-worn camera initiative to ensure that new body-worn cameras are inclusive of diverse communities and can be worn by police officers with different physical characteristics. National-level consultations with Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, LGBTQIA2S+ communities, and women's and victims' groups, have been integrated into the RCMP's engagement strategy. Additionally, regular members have been consulted to inform the assessment and selection of devices, and GBA Plus is being used to find ways to ensure the procurement process is more inclusive.

Experimentation

In recent years, RCMP uniform modernization has provided the organization with promising practices for innovation projects. Following a survey conducted with RCMP members in 2019 on the operational uniform, the RCMP undertook a number of initiatives to modernize and improve uniform items, including faith-based headdresses and uniform shirts. This year, two pilot projects began to test new fabric, design and performance for the RCMP-issued hijab and the operational uniform shirt. As part of the pilot project, employees tested prototype garments in a variety of settings (for example regular operations, training, and under diverse geographical conditions) and will be surveyed for feedback on a wide variety of factors about the prototypes. These pilots will directly support decision-making on uniform design and changes and will contribute to diversity, inclusion, and employee safety and wellness objectives.

Planned budgetary financial resources for internal services (dollars)

The following table shows, for internal services, budgetary spending for 2021-22, as well as actual spending for that year.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 77}

Human Resources for internal services (full-time equivalents)

The following table shows, in full time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to fulfill this core responsibility for 2021-22.

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the RCMP's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase. ^{Endnote 78}

Chart 1 - Spending 2019-20 to 2024-25

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.

In recent years, the RCMP's overall expenditures have had material variances stemming from increased employee benefit costs and adjustments to employee compensation levels as a result of collective bargaining. In 2019-20, there was a one-time increase in statutory employee benefit costs costs of $1 billion to the RCMP Pension Plan. In 2021-22, the RCMP incurred approximately $1.2 billion in retroactive (dating back to April 1, 2017) and current year salary increases from the newly signed collective agreement for the National Police Federation to establish the first collective agreement for RCMP members and reservists. With the signing of the collective agreement in August 2021, incremental funding of $1.2B related to the National Police Federation collective bargaining was received in Supplementary Estimates and was not included in the 2021-22 planned spending. This resulted in a material difference between planned and actual spending in each of the program areas, most notably in Contract and Indigenous Policing, which has the largest proportion of National Police Federation-represented police officers and reservists.

Transfer payments continue to increase on a yearly basis due to the increase in amounts paid to compensate members of the RCMP for injuries received in the performance of their duties. In 2021-22, transfer payments increased by $94.7 million.

The RCMP's capital investments remained relatively stable when compared to previous years.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

The "Budgetary performance summary for core responsibilities and internal services" table presents the budgetary financial resources allocated for the RCMP's core responsibilities and for internal services.

At the outset of 2021-22, the RCMP's planned spending was $3,439.7 million. Incremental funding from Supplementary Estimates, carry forwards and compensation stemming from collective bargaining brought the 2021-22 total authorities to $5,657.1 million. Examples of key initiatives approved in-year by Parliament were:

• Compensation funding for the newly signed collective agreement for the National Police Federation collective agreement for RCMP members and reservists;
• Incremental funding to address rising disability pension payments under the RCMP's grant to Compensate Members of the RCMP for Injuries Received in the Performance of Duty; and
• Increased funding for Contract Policing services provided in support of the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program.

Total actual spending ($5,326.4 million) in 2021-22 was $330.7 million less than the 2021-22 total authorities available for use. A significant portion of these funds were for specific initiatives and in special purpose allotments, which cannot be reallocated to address emerging pressures.

The RCMP is anticipating expenditure trends to continue to return to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, increases in overall expenditures are expected as the RCMP continues to implement initiatives identified in prior Budget announcements.

2021-22 Budgetary actual gross spending summary (dollars)

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net spending for 2021-22.

The RCMP's 2021-22 actual gross spending was $7,134.9 million and $1,808.5 million in vote netted revenues were collected, for a total net spending of $5,326.4 million. The vote netted revenues are primarily related to the provision of Contract Policing services for recoveries of eligible costs from the contract jurisdictions in accordance with the Police Services Agreements. Revenues are also collected for the provision of protective services on Parliament Hill, DNA analysis through biology casework analysis agreements with provinces and territories, pension administration, and training provided by the Canadian Police College.

The RCMP's Departmental Plan included $1,779.7 million of vote netted revenue authorities in 2021-22, and actual revenues collected were $1,808.5 million.

Revenues collected in 2021-22 increased by $73.7 million or 4% in comparison to 2020-21. The increase is largely attributable to Contract Policing services as a result of program growth and collective bargaining, and was partially offset by decreases to revenues collected from the Parliamentary Protective Service and the Canadian Police College.

The RCMP anticipates annual increases related to the provision of Contract Policing services in future years for program growth and contract partners' share of collective bargaining increases. Additionally, revenues related to training provided by the Canadian Police College are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels as the organization transitions to a post-pandemic environment.

Financial statements

The RCMP's financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2022, are available on the departmental website. ^{Endnote 82}

Financial statement highlights

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2022