RCMP responses to Management Advisory Board recommendations

We have conducted 2 reviews of the application process using an external third party in 2021, and internally in November 2022. Since then, we have engaged an Indigenous former Regular Member to review barriers and provide recommendations on process enhancement as part of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Recruiting Strategy.

This review and the associated recommendations have ensured a number of key changes have been made to the application process – including, but not limited to:

• a reduction of the process steps from 43 to 19
• the combination of the Regular Member Applicant Questionnaire and Right Fit Interview
• the elimination of significant forms and documentation shown to be a barrier
• the removal of the requirement to have Vision and Hearing Certificates at the start of the process.

These efforts have led to an increase in the success rates of Indigenous applicants as evidenced by the increase in the number and percentage of Indigenous cadets loaded to Depot (now at 7% of the cadet population).

As part of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy and ongoing work on rationalization and humanization, the RCMP will continue to review the process, and is on track to implement the recommendations identified by the Indigenous resource in the National Recruiting Processing Centre. The RCMP will also be looking to engage more Indigenous resources within the Recruiting function and will be launching communications to applicants (successful or otherwise) and implementing a Depot Cadet Survey (planned for April 2024) to receive feedback on where barriers currently exist – this will help drive further recommendations on removing barriers and enhancing the process for Indigenous applicants and other equity seeking groups.

We are in the process of tracking and monitoring all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants and has created a dedicated ‘fast track’ where Indigenous applicants are prioritized in the application process (in place since December 2020) with identified supports and Indigenous coaching resources. Indigenous deferrals are performed in consultation with an Indigenous resource in National Recruiting and historic data is in the process of being tracked and analyzed.

As part of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy, a dedicated resource in the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Unit will track, on an ongoing basis, all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis deferrals or drop-outs from the process, with rationales and follow-up actions in order to propose continuous improvement solutions.

Evaluate the capacities and knowledge base of the RCMP staff tasked with recruiting and evaluating applicants to ensure a solid understanding of factors, including all of the following:

• Systemic barriers to employment in public institutions, especially for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples
• The history of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada and their relationship with the Government of Canada and the RCMP
• The contemporary, diverse experiences of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities in Canada today and the way in which such experiences might affect openness and willingness to work with and for the RCMP
• Intergenerational trauma and its impacts on First Nations, Inuit, and Métis youth, young adults, and communities
• How each of the foregoing factors ought to shape the work of RCMP staff tasked with recruitment and evaluations of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants

All Recruitment Personnel currently receive 25 hours of compulsory training of Indigenous-developed content through the Canada School of Public Service.

Furthermore, we are currently exploring options for further training through external Indigenous providers for both National Recruiting and Proactive Recruiters.

Evaluating current capacities and knowledge bases, in addition to developing a more enhanced training plan for all staff in recruiting is a critical part of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy tailored specifically to the role of Recruitment at the RCMP and the evaluation of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants

25 hours of compulsory training of Indigenous-developed content through the Canada School of Public Service is a prerequisite to assessing and screening Indigenous applicants. In addition, we are currently exploring options for further training through external Indigenous providers for both National Recruiting and Proactive Recruiters.

National Recruiting is developing a training plan for all staff. Recruiting is a critical part of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy tailored specifically to the role of recruitment at the RCMP, and the evaluation of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants – which will add to the existing mandatory training required to assess First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants.

Indigenous only Recruitment Evaluation Centers have been launched as of November 2023 with a further expansion plan scheduled for 2024 based on the lessons learned from the K Division (Alberta) Indigenous Recruitment Evaluation Center.

As part of the all-Indigenous Recruitment Evaluation Centers – both Indigenous applicants from the Division and three applicants from V Division (Nunavut) were brought to a central location to be assessed by Indigenous Regular Members, and given access to free first aid training, fingerprinting, passport photos, fitness coaching, hearing and vision testing, and blood work for the V Division applicants where medical facilities are harder to access. In addition, this provides hands-on support for all applicants with their application process, forms submission, and assessments conducted by a plurality of Indigenous Regular Members from all 3 Indigenous groups with the presence of community Elders.

The program will be enhanced to enable suitability assessment and tighten up key aspects of the delivery to ensure the best possible candidate experience. It was led and co-developed by Indigenous peoples within the RCMP and allowed for significant time savings and barrier reduction.

With the support of the Indigenous Languages Coordinator in our Official Languages unit, National Recruiting is actively working with Official Languages and National Communications and Public Affairs on the development of Indigenous language recruitment materials and information – with pilots imminently scheduled in H Division (Nova Scotia) and V Division (Nunavut) – before a broader roll-out.

Moreover, National Recruiting is actively attempting to hire individuals with Indigenous language capability to offer more services in local languages for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants and leveraging local resources where possible. For example, presentation and group exercises at the K Division (Alberta) Recruitment Evaluation Centers were delivered and assessed in Inuktitut for V Division (Nunavut) applicants when requested.

The Government of Canada’s Translation Bureau currently offers translation services in numerous Indigenous Languages. The RCMP Directorate of Official Languages is seeking to increase engagement with divisions and Indigenous communities to promote Indigenous languages as a fundamental and valued element of the RCMP’s culture through the implementation of the Indigenous Languages Act. An Indigenous Languages Coordinator has been appointed and will examine the need for language services, including the translation of materials, to better meet the needs of Indigenous communities and hamlets.

In January 2023, National Recruiting developed dedicated working groups with Proactive Recruiters and key internal partners to ensure Indigenous Recruiting is a standing agenda item on National calls dedicating substantial time (at the most recent in-person Proactive Recruiters Forum in December 2023), to discuss how to better attract, retain and promote careers in the RCMP within Indigenous communities, and how to better support applicants in the process. Furthermore, National Recruiting is funding tailored initiatives in each division aimed at promoting promising practices for attraction and support (such as the C Division First Aid Initiative where 10 Indigenous communities will receive paid critical first aid training for 20 responders in each community. This initiative will start on the March 14, 2024, in Val d’Or and continue throughout the next 2 years.

Finally, work is also underway on launching an external Indigenous-led workshop and training program for all Proactive Recruiters on engaging with Indigenous communities and promoting good practices. Under the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy, when the full First Nations, Inuit, and Métis unit is resourced, a national unit of Indigenous Proactive Recruiters will drive best practices across the country.

Depot has a Memoranda of Understanding with B, L, K, J, D, F, E and H Divisions to send every Indigenous cadet back to their home community, their province/territory or another Indigenous community, should they desire upon graduation.

As of August 2023, all cadets are provided their division of choice so long as that division has positions available to be staffed. Should this paradigm change the previously established Memoranda of Understandings will remain in place.

The RCMP is developing an Indigenous Cohort approach, noting that we are already loading clusters of applicants to Depot. Work is ongoing to ensure the training and support resources at Depot are in place to support the cluster and troop model going forward. Discussions are currently being held to develop a pilot approach to determine what an ideal number for a cohort in a troop might be. The intention is to begin the pilot within fiscal year 2024/2025.

Furthermore, the new troop gate is in development and we will be adding a placeholder for an All-Indigenous troop based on the volume of Indigenous applicants currently in the process and likely timing for the troop. Cohorts are currently available at applicant request with work ongoing around finalizing the troop gate to allow the National Recruiting Processing Centre to communicate availability to all Indigenous applicants

Temporary resources secured to assist the National Coordinator with the administration of the 2024 Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program: students on a 90-day casual contract concluding at the end of March 2024, and the assistance of a public servant employed under RCMP Indigenous Collaboration, Co-Development and Accountability who is presently in the Regular Member application process.

To support the development of a performance strategy and Key Performance Indicators, Indigenous Policing Service – National collaborated with the National Headquarters’ Survey Centre to develop four Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program participant surveys. Indigenous Policing Service – National disseminates 2 of these surveys at the commencement and conclusion of the 3-week training session hosted at Depot. The remaining 2 surveys are follow-up surveys disseminated to former candidates at 6 months, and one-year intervals to monitor their interest in applying to the RCMP, in an effort to provide support.

The surveys are a systematic method of collecting data on the Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program candidates, but also provide the RCMP with an opportunity to obtain valuable insight into the respondents’ opinions about the organization. The 2 surveys distributed at the 3-week training, could reveal how these viewpoints could potentially change from the commencement of the program, to its conclusion. These personal opinion(s) could also indicate what key factors are influencing the candidate’s motivation to apply after the completion of the program.

The first 2 of 4 surveys were implemented in 2022, and the last 2 were implemented in 2023. Analysis of survey responses will inform the development of a formal performance strategy with Key Performance Indicators in 2024-25, which will in turn, aid in evaluating the program’s effectiveness as a means of making ongoing improvements.

Contract and Indigenous Policing through National Crime Prevention and Indigenous Policing Services will examine the Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program curriculum with the aim of developing materials to be shared with successful First Nations, Inuit, and Métis applicants who did not participate in the Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program. This will support incoming First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cadets by better preparing them for their Depot experience. Possible materials may include videos of Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program candidates participating in various program elements, video messages from Indigenous facilitators and/or mentors, and summaries of key Indigenous Pre-Cadet Training Program elements.

Furthermore, National Crime Prevention and Indigenous Policing Services is presently coordinating the renewal and expansion of the community profiles dossier to ensure all distinctions and communities are afforded comprehensive representation in this dataset. This is being achieved through internal and external collaboration with Indigenous employees and wherever possible, representation from the featured communities.

Present and future planned actions will serve to close the information resource gap this section addresses. The community dataset platform will have a degree of flexibility to customize the user experience and access based on the information needs associated to the user’s individual role (for example, current employee, external partner, or new employee onboarding/pre-cadet training candidate resources, etc.).

The recommendation from the Training and Education Taskforce Report is being addressed through a needs analysis of the Cadet Training Program done by an external consulting company under the stewardship of the Chief Learning Officer’s office.

In addition, Depot continues to modernize its curriculum under the Equity Diversity and Inclusion lens. Specific to Indigenous culture an entire module is being created in partnership with the Officer In Charge, Indigenous Policing and the RCMP Heritage Center on a ‘Mapping Exercise’ which contemplates all of the points proposed within this recommendation and is a significant improvement over past and current offerings.

Depot is engaged in determining current demographics among the instructor cadre, and assessing gaps versus the current demographics among RCMP Members, in addition to reporting on current demographics including where Depot meets, exceeds, or discovers a gap between the division and broader RCMP demographics.

Additional efforts include, engaging existing instructors from equity groups in conversation about perceived barriers to transferring to Depot, and assessing outcomes and developing a plan to overcome, if necessary.

Depot is considering a survey for visible minority Regular Members assessing their perceived barriers to transferring to Depot and assessing demographics among PS staff to improve the understanding of Depot’s diversity, which will assist with efforts to inform and attract Regular Member and Public Service facilitators.

Based on the above, Depot will create a holistic Divisional plan that first seeks to inform potential facilitators about outcomes of modernizing Depot. Efforts will focus on attracting potential visible minority facilitators via internal advertising campaigns, Divisional visits by Commanding Officer and to increase awareness through information sharing, Infoweb and social media campaigns, and partnerships with media outlets which serve diverse communities.

Where legitimate systemic barriers to promotion or lateral transfers have been identified, and there is a bona fide requirement for a position to be filled by a visible minority candidate, consider Special Measures Programs with defined parameters, goals and end dates as required by legislation.

To date, one Special Measures position has been created and filled, and 2 more Applied Police Science are being considered.

Depot hired 2 contract Equity Diversity and Inclusion positions to help support and identify Terms of Reference for term Equity Diversity and Inclusion and Indigenous Advisor positions. These contractors are also already involved in reviewing curriculum and practices in addition to advising on the Terms of Reference.

By June of 2024 Depot will have hired a full time Equity Diversity and Inclusion Advisor and part time or greater Indigenous Advisor.

In 2023, we launched our first ever First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy which was revised in December 2023, to fully incorporate the MAB recommendations pertaining to recruitment.

The strategy was developed in conjunction with RCMP Indigenous Collaboration, Co-Development and Accountability in order to share the vision and key messages with Indigenous communities, and targets were presented to Commanding Officers at the December 2022, Senior Executive Committee-Commanding Officer Meeting (although are currently being refreshed for 2024 to incorporate new census data by the Anti-Racism Unit in Human Resources-Policies, Strategies and Programs, and will be re-shared in a final version as soon as they have been finalized by the Anti-Racism Unit imminently). The strategy outlines a number of key initiatives and minimum divisional targets that were shared within the RCMP. Work is ongoing to finalize the central unit, and communicate the key milestones and objectives of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy externally.

As part of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Recruitment Strategy, a unit is in the process of being established to drive a collaborative Indigenous-led recruitment model between National Recruiting and the Divisions with the responsibility for oversight, development and implementation resting with a dedicated unit supported by divisional resources with local knowledge and flexibility.

Progress will be continuously monitored and included on existing reporting to Commanding Officers (which already shows the breakdown of Indigenous applicants at each process stages and reasons for attrition across all divisions).