Kelowna to review RCMP and municipal police model

May 16, 2025 | 2:22 PM

Should Kelowna move away from a regional RCMP police model and have its own municipal force?

That’s a question they want answered by a consultant as part of a review due early next year. The City is inviting bids for the consultancy work on their procurement portal.

Currently, Kelowna is the hub for a regional RCMP that includes West Kelowna, Peachland and Lake Country.

However, as noted in the procurement job posting, there have been suggestions from the federal government to move away from so-called contract policing, and the RCMP is de-regionalizing.

The post reads, in part:

Council grants

Vernon to distribute over $50k in Council Discretionary Grants, $20K to the food bank

9h ago

Possible firearm involved

One person apprehended in connection with suspicious activity in Coldstream

Dec 13, 2025

Fatal Collision, Highway Closed

One person dead in crash near Revelstoke

Dec 13, 2025

The City continues to have confidence in, and deep respect for, the hard-working members of the RCMP. The provision of municipal policing provided by the RCMP occurs through an agreement between the City and Province of BC. This agreement is further supported by an agreement between the Province and the Government of Canada, which expires 2032. Although the federal government signaled in 2024 a continued commitment to offer contract police services post-2032, A New Policing Vision for Canada: Modernizing the RCMP (March 2025) advocates to ’transition away from contract policing’.

It adds Kelowna has, for many years, served as the regional hub of the Central Okanagan RCMP, serving Peachland, West Kelowna, Kelowna, Lake Country, as well as provincial policing in the area, including Westbank First Nation and a portion of Okanagan Lake. Comprised of approximately 325 regular members and 130 municipal employees, the Central Okanagan RCMP is now the largest RCMP detachment in Canada.

In 2025/26, the regional municipalities and RCMP are actively ’de-regionalizing,’ which will result in mainly autonomous operations in each area, while retaining select shared services.

Upon completion, the Kelowna RCMP detachment will be the third largest in Canada with approximately 250 regular members and 110 municipal employees.

by Vernon Matters Staff

View Comments