In August of 2022, the Saskatchewan RCMP established an Indigenous Recruiting Unit (IRU) to recruit and assist indigenous community members to join the RCMP.
“One of the Saskatchewan RCMP’s top priorities is ensuring our officers are representative of the communities we serve and, as such, enhancing recruiting efforts in Indigenous communities is critical to ensuring our success in this area,” says Saskatchewan RCMP’s Commanding Officer, A/Commr. Rhonda Blackmore.
“The officers of this new unit work alongside current Saskatchewan RCMP Recruiters to meet and recruit those applicants who endeavor to be a positive influence in and protect their communities as future police officers.”
The RCMP hosted a three-day recruitment session from February 9 to 12 in Regina to help indigenous applicants with the initial stages of their RCMP officer applications.
“Our job is to recruit indigenous people to work in our communities. Our organization works in many indigenous communities across Saskatchewan and our organization needs to reflect the communities we work in so that’s one of the main goals of our unit,” says Cpl. Kim Gobeil.
36 applicants traveled to Regina from as far north as Stony Rapids and as southwest as Maple Creek.
Over the three days, they got a taste of what it’s like to be an RCMP Cadet. They also received help in the application process.
“It provided the applicants a very good insight into what life at Depo Training Academy will look like and what a life in the RCMP will entail for them. I think it was a great success,” says Gobeil.
“All applicants have to complete a mandatory career presentation which we provided and then they have to do the online assessment which is the entrance exam. We provided that to the applicants who attended.”
The applicants are now waiting for the results of their assessment. Depending on their results, they’ll either advance in the application process or they’ll have to wait until they can rewrite the assessment again.
Gobeil says there will be future indigenous recruitment sessions and anyone looking to start a career with RCMP should visit their website.
