SASKATCHEWAN - Saskatchewan RCMP say they are doing their best to address vacancy rates for RCMP operators and dispatchers, which is an issue not just in this province, but across Canada.
In a media interview on March 12, Jocelyn James, Operational Communications Centre (OCC) unit manager with Saskatchewan RCMP, and Supt. Devin Pugh, the officer in charge of support services for Saskatchewan RCMP, discussed a national news release from CUPE 104 that addressed the union's concerns.
CUPE 104, the union representing operators and dispatchers, had a number of issues they were concerned about.
"The staffing shortage among RCMP operators and dispatchers is now a full-blown crisis," said CUPE 104, which cited that 55.9 per cent of positions were vacant in Saskatchewan in particular.
The union noted its vacancy rate numbers reflect both hard vacancies, and soft vacancies, when, for example, someone is off on sick leave.
The union's release indicated the nationwide vacancy rate was 42.8 per cent in RCMP Dispatch (Telecommunications Operator) positions, according to the latest National Operational Communications Centres (OCC) Resource Statistics.
Pugh said the RCMP in Saskatchewan does have vacancies in its OCC but he said the news release had higher vacancy rates than the rates actually realized in Saskatchewan.
"I think the reason for that was it may not have been taking into account the term positions that we have in our Operational Communications Centre," he said. "Those term positions are utilized when we hire new trainees in the Operational Communications Centre and they transition into the positions. So there may be a little of a misunderstanding on that part."
Pugh said the OCC does have a vacancy rate and the RCMP is addressing that through different initiatives and different technologies "to make sure that we are providing the utmost service to Saskatchewan, and maintaining that public safety."
"We are aware of it and we are addressing it in other ways, and recruiting is one of the biggest reasons we are trying to address it as well," he said.
While the number cited in the news release indicated the vacancy rate was 55.9 per cent in Saskatchewan, based on October 2024 statistics, Pugh said the Saskatchewan RCMP is actually running at around a 30.5 per cent vacancy rate for these positions.
"With that, we are trying our best to increase our recruitment efforts, and address it through other initiatives we have in place with the Communications Centre as well, to make sure we take as much of that workload off of the telecom dispatchers and 911 call takers," he said.
James said that a few of the positions have been filled in the last few months since October 2024, that has helped bring down the vacancy rate numbers.
The union release indicated police responses from 911 calls are delayed because there aren't enough dispatchers to answer and coordinate responses.
They also said that public safety is a concern as "Canadians in crisis are waiting longer for help, officers are left without essential support and national security is being compromised because of RCMP leadership negligence and Treasury Board's refusal to act," said president of CUPE 104 Kathleen Hippern, in a letter sent to the Minister of Public Safety and the President of the Treasury Board.
On response time in light of the dispatch vacancies, for RCMP officers and the police as a whole, Pugh said the RCMP has introduced some measures to reduce the workload on operators and dispatchers.
"Obviously, with the vacancies, there's a concern there. But we are implementing different initiatives to be able to take some of that workload off of the dispatchers to make sure that the ability to answer those 911 calls to dispatch aren't impeded," he said. "On average, all of our 911 calls go through a system we have the ability to track very precisely, and on average answering the 911 calls in five seconds or less. That hasn't gone down. The reason for that is obviously the professionalism we have within our call takers and dispatchers. But also the initiatives that we have implemented to be able to take off some of that workload."
Pugh said one of the initiatives is having public service employees that are assigned into the OCC to take some of the smaller jobs that normally would have been given to the dispatchers and call takers.
"That allows the call takers we have in place to be more attentive and be able to perform their core function much more efficiently," he said.
To deal with the vacancy rate, James said the RCMP are focused on recruiting to help fill the vacant positions.
"Over the last couple of years, we have designated someone to be specifically for recruiting," James said. "She has over 15 years experience in the Operational Communications Centre. She travels throughout the province to career fairs, to school talks that happen. She attends out to town halls. She has been to sporting events. She basically is out there to try and find people that are a good fit for the type of job that we do. Since she has been in that role, we have seen a large increase of Saskatchewan applicants. It's been fantastic for us."
James said last year alone the Saskatchewan RCMP had three job advertisements and received over 300 applicants.
"We definitely are seeing the applicants," she said. "It's a long process, and it's trying to find the right fit and the type of person that can do this type of job. It's not for everyone. It's definitely unique."
Pugh noted the RCMP also has the ability to lean on its counterparts from other provinces throughout Canada to assist when there is an issue that overloads the Communications Centre in Saskatchewan.
"We just recently were able to partner with Alberta RCMP and leverage their two dispatch centres in the event, God forbid, if we get into a situation similar to the James Smith mass-casualty incident. We can basically flip a switch now and lean on those two communication centres to provide us that expertise support, to provide on-the-ground coordination and dispatching to our members here in Saskatchewan... So, we have that ability to reach out to all our counterparts right across Canada," he said.
Pugh added that recruitment is also being done across Canada, so candidates can be transferred from every province to Saskatchewan if required to meet the need.
