Pandemic continues to hamper RCMP recruiting
While it isn't clear whether numbers have been impacted, there's no question COVID-19 has made it more challenging for RCMP to recruit new members.
Cpl. Owen Third, in charge of F Division's proactive recruiting unit, noted the RCMP recruitment process has undergone significant change, including halving the number of people at a time who can take the entrance exam to allow for social distancing and delaying vision and hearing testing for applicants. Depot — the RCMP'S training facility — has also been impacted.
“We're still playing catch-up to get everyone through,” Third said of entrance exams, noting they became backlogged due to a temporary COVID -19-related shutdown.
Daily practicalities aside, RCMP recruiters have had to readjust the way they do business. Frequently a job entailing a lot of travel, career fairs and in-person presentations, members have adapted by moving online. Third has noticed a difference on the uptake side.
“In a lot of our presentations, the numbers aren't as great as they would be dealing with people in person,” he said.
Efforts are being made to reach out to groups, including school guidance counsellors.
Insp. Honey Dwyer, in charge of F-division's Indigenous Policing Services unit, said another Covid-19-related barrier is an inability to make in-person visits to reserves due to lockdowns many First Nations have imposed.
“In terms of recruitment, there hasn't been a whole lot just because of the inability to go out to the communities and do the things that we would normally do,” she said, although Dwyer added online meetings and conference calls with band leaders have proven beneficial in building and maintaining relationships.
Recruiting to the national police force has always come with a set of challenges not experienced by municipal forces — specifically requirements to relocate, sometimes far from home, and the potential for working in remote locations with few other members.
In the summer of 2020, outgoing Saskatchewan RCMP commissioner Mark Fisher acknowledged the difficulties the nomadic nature of the job creates in terms of recruitment and retention, noting he and his family had themselves moved 10 times during his career.
“... From a recruiting perspective, I think it's something we're going to have to start looking at.”
Third said it's true the likely prospect of relocating can prove a hindrance to RCMP recruitment.
“Mobility is a huge issue for anyone wanting to join the RCMP,” he said. “Not everyone wants to move away from their family.”
Dwyer said attempts have been made to keep members within their home province if they wish.
“That's much easier than what it was, say, 20 years ago,” said Dwyer, one of eight members of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band working with the RCMP.
As far as concerns about racism, Dwyer said she has faced it within communities she policed, but hasn't had anyone tell her they wouldn't consider a career in the RCMP because of it.
She said a great way to make change is to step up and play an active role from the inside.