RCMP Heritage Site
RCMP
1873-2025
The critical histories presented here are important for every Canadian to know and understand. Read, share, and teach.
Personnel of the Royal North West Mounted Police. Archives / Collections and Fonds.
RCMP: 150 Years and Beyond
On May 23, 2023, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police marked its 150th anniversary with a mythological commemoration of service to the country.
The National RCMP Research Council seeks to amend these gaps in our national memory about the real history of the force.
This “major historical milestone,” as the RCMP call it, is certainly a chance to reflect on “our storied past,” but we intend to tell stories here of those impacted by the power of this force to enact terrible violence and oppression.
This website project would be unnecessary, if not for the lack of institutional accountability the RCMP has demonstrated, despite numerous attempts by RCMP officers themselves, royal commissions, reports, and thousands of civilian complaints. It presents an opportunity for a wholesale rethinking of the role of the RCMP in Canadian society.
The histories presented here are important for every Canadian to know and understand. Read, share, and teach.
Follow us on social media to join the conversation, using #RCMP150 and #RCMPTimesUp150.
Photo Credit: Legal Observers, 2010
RCMP Stats
3,157
Public complaints filed in Canada against the RCMP in 2023-24
$6.91 billion
The RCMP’s planned gross spending in the 2024-25 fiscal year
41
Number of years LGBTQ+ people were excluded from the force
20
Average number of people who die in RCMP custody each year
32
Number of people who suffered gun shots from RCMP weapons in 2023
12
Number of people who died from being shot by the RCMP in 2023
56
Number of years the RCMP enforced the racist and unlawful pass system in the prairies
573
Public complaints filed against the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) unit in BC between 2019 and 2022
76
Number of years the RCMP enforced the abduction of Indigenous children for residential schooling
Photo Credit: Michael Toledano
