Burnaby RCMP joins pilot project to collect race-based data

Burnaby RCMP has joined a pilot project to collect race-based data when police interact with people.

“We believe it's an important step in continuing to build trust and more inclusive communities for everyone,” said Burnaby's RCMP officer in charge, Chief Supt. Graham de la Gorgendiere.

Three municipalities joined earlier this year: Thompson, Man., Whitehorse and Fort McMurray, Alta. A municipality in Nova Scotia will join the pilot later this spring.

Burnaby started collecting the data April 1.

“We had gone across the country in 2022, engaging with communities, engaging with members and detachment leaders in six divisions and 11 detachments,” said Mai Phan, acting director of the RCMP anti-racism unit in Ottawa.

Phan's team assesses potential sites according to several factors, such as support among the local RCMP leadership and the willingness of officers to be involved in the project.

Phan said one of the most important factors was the diversity of a community. Burnaby is one of the most diverse municipalities in B.C.

“We also spoke with community organizations from diverse communities and Indigenous organizations to understand their issues and concerns, and whether this was a project they would support, and if they saw it as valuable to address issues of trust and help improve the services the RCMP provides in their communities,” Phan said, adding that the people her unit spoke with welcomed the RCMP's decision to start collecting race-based data.

Many cultural communities and Indigenous people have long called for this type of data collection.

“In Canada, there's been a dearth of data. Without data, we don't have a robust information set to really understand what is happening. We're way behind other countries in that regard. So we need to catch up,” Phan said.

Another factor driving the RCMP to collect this data is COVID-19 and how race-based data identified inequities in the Canadian health-care system.

“We saw how structural and systemic barriers impacted communities differently, even with something like a virus,” Phan said.

Other drivers include the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, several of which are concerned with the overrepresentation of Indigenous adults and youth in the justice system.

Burnaby RCMP will collect the data for one year, after which Phan's team will analyze the results, identify any areas for improvement, and eventually roll out race-based data collection countrywide.