The Alberta RCMP are going to be receiving more funding from the provincial government.
For one year, that is.
The province is on the hook for providing policing services to municipal districts, counties, and urban municipalities with a population lower than 5,000 people.
In 2019, the Alberta Government announced they were increasing funding for RCMP services due to an increase in rural crime at the time.
That funding helped to create hundreds of additional positions in the RCMP around the province.
That funding came into effect in 2020, and at that time, the provincial government worked with Alberta Municipalities and Rural Municipalities of Alberta to help create a shared funding model under the Police Funding Regulation.
The RCMP's most recent collective agreements have caused the cost of having the RCMP in smaller communities to increase by 39 per cent.
According to the provincial government, they are saying that with these additional costs, there is no corresponding increase in the services they are providing.
The Province will cover the additional costs for one year.
In the meantime, the government is going to work with the RCMP on their future policing needs.
"The expiring regulation would have municipalities seeing a 39 per cent increase in their costs -- with no improvement in policing services delivered," explained the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis in a media release. "We know this is not acceptable for many municipalities. This cost freeze will give rural municipalities the stability and predictability they need, and it will allow for meaningful engagement between the province and municipalities on equitable support."
Those municipalities that are preparing their 2025 and are served by the RCMP under the Provincial Police Service Agreement need not worry.
They can still expect the same services as before, without having to pay the additional cost.
Normally, the cost of the RCMP is shared between the municipality and the province, but due to the increased costs, the province will pick up the larger of the two tabs the next fiscal year, a total of $27 million.
This will ensure that municipalities' costs remain stable and will give them time to figure out how they wish to cover the increased costs moving forward, as well as determine what's the best policing model for their community.
When the Police Funding Regulation was initially introduced in 2020, it was phased in over several years, so that rural municipalities only had to pay extra in increments over four years to help come the additional cost of policing.
The first year, municipalities were charged an extra 10 per cent the first year, which was increased to 15 per cent the following year, up to 20 per cent the following year, and then finally 30 per cent, starting on April 1, 2023.
Since the 2023-2024 fiscal year, municipalities have been covering 30 per cent of the front-line policing costs, and because of that shared cost, the RCMP has been able to increase the number of police officers, programs, and services over the last several years.
The Police Funding Regulation has been in place for nearly five years, but due to cost increases coming from the federal government, the provincial government has decided to undertake a review to determine what improvements are needed.
The Police Funding Regulation was scheduled to expire on March 31, 2025, but now it is being extended to March 31, 2026.
This extension will allow the municipalities to have conversations with the province about their policing needs and different policing models.
After 2025, municipalities will be required to cover the additional 39 per cent increase in costs from the RCMP.
More details about the review, as well as any information on engagement opportunities for rural municipalities, will be provided soon.
To learn more about this funding, click here.