Evaluation of Strategies to Staff Northern and Isolated Posts

Context

Police presence in the North first appeared with the inception of the North-West Mounted Police during the gold rush. Today, through policing agreements, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is responsible for policing 75% of the geography of Canada. This includes much of rural Canada and all of the Canadian North. In many of these locations, the RCMP is often the only government presence.

The objective of this evaluation was to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of current strategies to staff northern and isolated posts and the sustainability of these strategies moving forward, in accordance with the Treasury Board Policy on Results. The evaluation focused on the management and delivery, outcomes, and sustainability of these strategies.

The evaluation focused on three questions:

1. How effective are current strategies at staffing northern and isolated posts?
2. What barriers exist to staffing northern and isolated posts?
3. What opportunities exist to more effectively and efficiently staff northern and isolated posts?

Methodology

Interviews

In-person and video interviews were conducted with the Division, National recruiting Program, Depot and Regular Member Staffing

Document review

Internal reports, Media articles, Policies and procedures, Meeting minutes and records of decision, Review and assessments, Presentations and briefings

Internal survey

A survey was sent to 6,258 regular members and completed by 4,068, for a response rate of 65%

Program data

Available RCMP administrative data was collected and analyzed

Site visits

V Division, G Division and Depot Division

Findings

1. Northern and isolated posts are more difficult to staff than other RCMP posts due to a range of environmental and organizational factors that limit member interest and retention.
2. Current staffing strategies have demonstrated limited success in northern and isolated posts.
3. The flexible posting plan created challenges to staffing northern and isolated posts.
4. Depot has recently taken steps to provide additional information to cadets about the benefits of working in northern and isolated posts.
5. In the absence of a centralized approach, divisions have undertaken different approaches to attract people to northern and isolated posts.
6. RCMP recruitment practices are not aligned with the staffing needs of northern and isolated posts.
7. Incentives for working in northern and isolated posts are perceived as insufficient, limiting their effectiveness in attracting members.

Recommendations

1. Develop a coordinated strategy to address organizational staffing needs in northern and isolated posts, supported by the incorporation of best practices, improved use of workforce data and long-term workforce planning.
2. Explore opportunities to increase targeted recruitment efforts to attract and prioritize applicants who best meet the current requirements of the organization, including northern and isolated posts.
3. Review and modernize RCMP-controlled incentives to strengthen the organization’s ability to attract and retain members in northern and isolated posts.
4. Strengthen communication and outreach regarding vacancies/opportunities in northern and isolated posts, and ensure these opportunities are clearly promoted and embedded throughout the recruitment process and Depot training curriculum.