End of federal program worry police forces across Canada

A program started by the federal government could see a cut to police forces across Canada when it ends in March. 

Known as the Police Officer Recruitment Fund and armed with a budget of $400 million, the program was a way to aid officers in each province with crackdowns on what they felt was important. Some money went to anti-gang and cyber crime squads, as well as increasing aboriginal police forces. 

According to the Gazette, the program was started in 2008 with the goal of increasing Canada’s police forces with 2,500 more officers. 

However, with the program coming to an end, many police chiefs across the country are worried about what the lack of funding could mean for their departments. 

The Nishnawabe-Aski police force, one of North America’s largest aboriginal police departments, will probably see a cut of 11 officers. The 150 officers working for the department police 34 communities in poor, small town areas in the far north of Ontario. 

The cut would be a critical loss for the aboriginal force and would mean that they would need to withdraw services from some small communities.