RCMP Rolls Out Body-Worn Cameras for Frontline Officers Across Canada

An RCMP officer wears a body camera at the detachment in Bible Hill, N.S. on April 18, 2021. The Canadian Press/Andrew Vaughan

Thousands of frontline RCMP officers will start their shifts Nov. 18 outfitted with body-worn cameras, as the first phase of the federal police force program rolls out across Canada.

General duty police officers at designated detachments will begin wearing body-worn cameras as part of the RCMP’s modernization plan—a bid to improve evidence gathering while also increasing transparency to the public, the federal police service said in a Nov. 1 release.

“The rollout of body-worn cameras to Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers is another step towards building a more modern and accountable RCMP and enhancing trust between the RCMP and the communities it serves,” RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said in the press release.

Roughly 1,000 contract and federal police officers will transition into the system each month as part of the RCMP’s nine-month national implementation plan, the agency said. The federal force is aiming to have 90 percent of all frontline officers using the devices by this time next year with full deployment complete in the next 12 to 18 months.

Audio and video captured on body-worn cameras will be uploaded and maintained on a secure digital evidence management system, the second aspect of the RCMP’s modernization plan, police said.

Cameras will be worn on the officer’s chest and a red light will flash below the lens of the camera when it is recording. While a member of the public can request the camera be turned off, the officer will only be able to do so if it doesn’t contravene RCMP policy.

“In situations where there are concerns for police or public safety or the video has investigational value, the policy requires RCMP officers to keep the camera on,” the policy says.

Cameras must be used during service calls, including those related to ongoing crimes and investigations, when contact with a member of the public is initiated, according to the policy. The cameras will also be used to record statements in the field and during interactions with individuals in custody.

The cameras will be turned off during strip searches and body cavity searches as well as in settings with “a high expectation of privacy,” such as washrooms, hospitals, and treatment centres, the agency said.

The initial plan was for the force to begin using the cameras in 2021, but the process took longer than anticipated due to delays in awarding the first contract and conducting field tests. The RCMP announced in 2023 it was changing vendors, further postponing the rollout.

It finally began field-testing Axon Public Safety Canada body cameras last year with roughly 300 officers in Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and Alberta.

Once the rollout is complete, between 10,000 and 15,000 cameras will be deployed across the country, the RCMP said.

Axon is supplying both the body-worn cameras and the digital evidence management system.

Ottawa allocated $238.5 million in 2020 to be spent over a six-year period for the system’s implementation along with an annual budget of $50 million going forward.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.