Police organisation
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Canada’s federal police force, which also delivers provincial and municipal policing under contract to eight provinces, three territories and some 150 municipalities.
At a glance
- Official name
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
- System
- Canada
- Level of government
- Federal
- Kind of body
- Federal police force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Official website
- https://rcmp.ca/ — confirmed against the organisation’s own pages on 19 September 2026.
- Facts last checked against sources
- 13 September 2026
What it is
Section 3 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act provides that "there shall continue to be a police force for Canada", and section 5 that the Commissioner, under the direction of the Minister, has the control and management of the Force. Section 20(1) is what makes the RCMP unusual: the Minister may arrange with a province for the use of the Force in that province. Contract policing is a SERVICE arrangement, not a transfer of ownership — the Force stays federal and maintains national standards while delivering provincial and municipal policing.
What it covers
Federal, plus contract policing in eight provinces (Ontario and Quebec run their own provincial services), three territories and some 150 municipalities. Current agreements expire on 31 March 2032.
Broad responsibilities
- Federal policing across Canada
- Provincial and territorial policing under contract
- Municipal policing under direct contract with some 150 municipalities
- Maintaining national standards and policies across contract policing jurisdictions
Who it answers to
The Commissioner has the control and management of the Force under the direction of the Minister.
Elsewhere on this site
- RCMP Heritage Centre — the museum, archive or collection that holds this organisation’s history
- Who polices what — how Canada is structured, against other systems
Other organisations to compare
- Sûreté du Québec — Canada
Where this connects
Institutions: National police.
Sources
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act (RSC 1985, c. R-10)
Government of Canada — Justice Laws Website (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca) · Legislation · link verified 2026-09-19
The statute constituting and governing the RCMP (English; French equally authoritative), read in full for the relevant sections. Supports: s.3 'There shall continue to be a police force for Canada ... known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police' (a FEDERAL force); s.5 the Commissioner, 'under the direction of the Minister, has the control and management of the Force' (federal governance); THIS RECORD WAS RE-READ AND NARROWED. It previously also supported s.20(1), the statutory basis for contract policing. The address it cited was the Act's landing page, which carries a table of contents rather than the enacted text, so none of the quoted provisions was readable there. The publisher's own link from that page leads to the text of sections 1 to 11, which carries s.3 and s.5 and is now the address cited. S.20(1) IS NOT ESTABLISHED AT THIS ADDRESS: the Act is paginated and the later pages are not exposed to a direct request from the pages read. Nothing published relies on this record for contract policing — that rests on ca-rcmp-contract, the Force's own account — and no claim was widened to compensate.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (rcmp.ca) · Institutional (self-description) · link verified 2026-09-19
The RCMP's own page, read in full. Supports: 'The RCMP currently provides contract policing services to eight provinces (Ontario and Quebec have their own provincial police service), three territories and under direct contract to some 150 municipalities in Canada'; 'Provinces and territories pay 70% of RCMP costs and the federal government pays 30%' (municipalities pay 70% under 15,000 population or 90% over 15,000); the current agreements 'expire on March 31, 2032'; and 'As Canada's national police force, the RCMP maintains national standards and policies across contract policing jurisdictions' — the Force stays federal while delivering provincial/municipal policing. Establishes the provider/client/funding/term facts; the term is a maximum, terminable earlier on notice (carried in prose).