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The Ontario government wants to get more people into policing.
It plans to remove the tuition fee for the Basic Constable Training program at the Ontario Police College.
This will be retroactive to the start of this year.
Recruits who paid for the twelve-week program earlier this year will be reimbursed.
Legislation, if passed, will also remove the post-secondary education requirement to become a police officer.
Premier Doug Ford says it clears a path for more people to consider a career in policing.
“Together, these measures will help attract new recruits, break down financial barriers that may have stopped people from becoming a police officer, and build a pipeline of police officers ready to serve and push back against the growing tide of crime and friends,” says Ford.
The college will also be able to train more recruits.
It will be permitted to add 70 in each training cohort, with the number of cohorts to increase from three to four in 2024.
“We’re immediately expanding the number of recruits that can be trained every year by adding 140 new recruits at the Ontario Police College in 2023 and another 420 by the end of next year,” says Ford.
“We want more people to have the opportunity to become police officers. People from all walks of life and backgrounds who reflect our diversity, and that’s what today’s announcement is all about,” says Solicitor General Michael Kerzner.
Earlier this year, police training programs were expanded from 60 to 66 days to accommodate immediate rapid deployment and active attacker and mental health response training for individuals in crisis.