B.C. Provincial Election 2026:
What’s the Plan for Public Safety?

British Columbians will choose their next provincial government on Saturday, October 24.

Across B.C., more than 6,700 RCMP Members serve over 150 communities, from major urban centres to rural, remote and Indigenous communities. They provide frontline policing and connect communities to specialized services including major crime, forensic identification, police dogs, emergency response, air services, and marine services.

The next provincial government will make decisions that affect whether RCMP Members have the people, tools, infrastructure, and long-term investments needed to meet growing public safety demands.

Ask B.C.’s political parties to make their plans clear before you vote.

Your letter will ask party leaders to make clear commitments on coordinated government action, RCMP staffing, specialized resources, justice system accountability, and safer communities.

Personalize your message if you wish, then add your name and send it directly to party leaders.

Ask Party Leaders: What’s Your Plan?

Public Safety Requires Provincial Leadership

Police are often the last line of defence when other systems have failed. RCMP Members respond to people in crisis, repeat offenders, organized crime, mental health and substance use related issues, domestic violence, and emergencies of every kind.

Police cannot solve these challenges alone. Effective public safety initiatives require coordinated action across provincial ministries and with municipalities, Indigenous communities, police services, prosecutors, health-care providers and community organizations.

What B.C.’s RCMP Members Need:

We’re calling on all provincial parties to clearly state how they will resolve critical public safety issues for RCMP Members and deliver on our longstanding asks to improve community safety here in BC.

BC needs 300 more officers to address policing priorities throughout the province. The authorized RCMP strength (number of officers) has not increased since 2012, despite the population increasing by 25% over that time and policing demands becoming more complex.

Commit to strengthening Member Mental Health and Wellness Supports: RCMP Members and all public safety personnel have our backs every day. Government needs to have theirs and ensure wellness programs like PSPNet should be expanded province-wide for all ~48,000 public safety personnel in BC.

Improve communication between first responders through partnering with the Federal Government and industry to develop a Public Safety Broadband Network to enable real-time, secure communications between emergency services.

Send a Letter to Show Your Support for These Urgent Priorities

Know Before You Vote: Ask the Right Questions

Local mayor and council candidates are making promises about the future of your community.
Before you vote, get informed about what those promises mean for public safety.

Ask candidates:

We have asked all participating provincial political parties the same questions. Their responses may be published in full or summarized, so voters can compare their commitments.

Compare the Parties’ Public Safety Commitments

Take Action: Ask for a Public Safety Plan

Compare the Parties’ Public Safety Commitments

At the start of the provincial election, we invited all provincial political parties with official party status in the BC Legislature to respond to the same five public safety and policing questions.

Responses are published below in the order they were received. If a party is not shown, we have not yet received a response

Question 1:

Police officers are often the last line of defence when other systems have failed. They respond to people in crisis, repeat offending, organized crime, mental-health and substance-use issues, domestic violence and emergencies of every kind. Police cannot solve all of these challenges alone. We are asking the next government to work across ministries and with municipalities, Indigenous communities, police services, prosecutors, health-care providers and community organizations to address the issues that contribute to crime and disorder. What specific actions and investments will you take to demonstrate that public safety is a government-wide priority?

Conservative Party of BC
Making Public Safety a Government-Wide Priority

Public safety is government’s first job, and police can’t carry it alone. Our Safe Streets for BC plan makes it a priority across government, pairing enforcement with health care and the courts:

More police where they’re needed most: 250 more officers through an expanded JIBC Police Academy, plus 500 RCMP officers and 150 civilian staff over five years for rural and regional BC.

More justice capacity: 50 new Crown prosecutors, more sheriffs and court capacity, and work with Ottawa to fund 20 more trial judges.

Real care for people in crisis: expanded psychiatric services, crisis response and residential treatment, plus compassionate intervention so people with severe addiction, mental illness or brain injury get off the street and into care. We’ll amend the Mental Health Act so officers can connect people with mandatory treatment instead of cycling them through emergency services.

Accountability for results: public reporting on repeat offending, bail compliance, court delays, treatment access and long-term recovery, so British Columbians can see whether the system is working.

We’ll work with municipalities, First Nations, police services, prosecutors and health providers to make sure those pieces fit together on the ground.
BC Green Party

The BC Greens believe that public safety is, fundamentally, the responsibility of all ministries and is a reflection of the investment we have in our communities as public service workers, citizens, and/or community members.

Safer communities start with tackling the root causes of crime. We’ll raise disability and social assistance rates, expand affordable housing, and fund supervised consumption sites that provide community connection and pathways to recovery. And we’ll support police by expanding mobile crisis teams, so officers aren’t the only response for people facing mental health and substance use challenges.

Policy calls related to this include, but are not limited to: restarting the Community and Indigenous Housing Funds, integrating mental health services as a fourth option on 911, expanding and improving voluntary care access for substance use, and ensuring school funding programs are adequately resourced to provide food, supplies, and social programming.
BC NDP
People deserve to feel safe, and the most challenging issues in our communities need to be addressed in a coordinated way – through prevention, early intervention, enforcement, and timely access to justice.

We are building affordable and supportive housing to keep people from living on the streets, expanding access to mental health and addictions treatment – including for youth – and coordinating community prevention in more communities by expanding the situation table program.

And we are working to stop the cycle of crime and offending through Community Transition Teams for those coming out of correctional centres, repeat offending hubs, and by providing police with funding for targeted initiatives through SITE and C-STEP.

We have taken significant steps to increase the capacity of law enforcement and the justice system. We have more than doubled training seats at the JIBC Police Academy, increased funding to hire an additional 250 RCMP officers for the Provincial Police, and speeding up charge approvals for high-risk offenders. We know there is more work to do to make communities safe, and our plan builds on the work we have done so far. We will:

Tackle repeat violent offenders and chronic property crime by making permanent and doubling funding for the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative (ReVOII) and Chronic Property Offending Intervention Initiative (C-POII) that are getting results.

Hire 50 additional Crown prosecutors and dedicate a unit to focus on extortion, racketeering and gang violence. Pairing this work with the BC Extortion Task Force would put more criminals behind bars.

Strike a BC Retail Theft Task Force that brings together the RCMP, municipal police, and federal agencies to go after the organized criminals who are targeting businesses.

Make sure that crime doesn’t pay by seizing gang assets like luxury vehicles, properties, and businesses used as fronts.

Pursue immediate penalties for people caught with illegal guns or involved in gang activity, wherever the law allows, such as driving suspensions and loss of access to business licenses.

Crime severity is down 12% since 2023, and is at its lowest point in years. However, some people are still falling through the cracks. We are moving in the right direction, but we have further to go. The BC NDP will continue efforts to address root causes of crime, stop cycles before they become entrenched, increase enforcement, collaborate with the federal government around bail reform, end intimate partner violence, and come at the most challenging issues in a comprehensive, strategic way.

Question 2:

The RCMP’s authorized strength in B.C. has remained unchanged since 2012, even as the province’s population has grown by more than 25% and policing demands have become increasingly complex. Modern policing requires significantly more investigative, reporting, and coordination work per file than fifteen years ago, placing additional pressure on frontline resources and reinforcing the need for increased staffing across the province. What is your plan to ensure BC has enough RCMP Members to meet growing demand?

Conservative Party of BC

Enough RCMP Members to Meet Growing Demand

BC’s RCMP authorized strength hasn’t moved since 2012, while the population has grown by more than a quarter. Communities outside the Lower Mainland feel that gap the most.

A Conservative government will add 500 RCMP officers and 150 civilian staff over five years to restore policing in rural and regional communities. That goes beyond the 300 additional officers the NPF has called for. The civilian staff matter too. They can take on the analysis, disclosure and reporting work that grows with every file, so members spend more time on the road.

We’ll also hire and deploy 250 more police officers by expanding the JIBC Police Academy, so municipal forces grow alongside the RCMP.
BC Green Party

The BC Greens recognize that, when police officers are over-worked, the public can suffer. As the population grows, the cost-of-living increases, and community-centered resources get cut, the police are increasingly relied on to provide services and address crises at levels that are unsustainable for everyone. We note too that Police are called upon to respond to issues that they are not best placed to address, including mental health crises. To this end, the BC Greens have supported implementing a fourth option for 911 calls, to link people experiencing a crisis to mental health supports – reducing the demands on police and ensuring people have the right service at the right time.
BC NDP

The BC RCMP is the largest division of the RCMP, with 6,800 officers including an authorized strength of 2,600 provincial police. It is critical that policing capacity increases as our communities grow, so we can keep people safe. That’s why the BC NDP government made a historic investment to hire over 250 more RCMP officers. We have also added 240 new police training seats to support recruitment efforts for municipal police departments.

Most municipalities in British Columbia contract with the BC RCMP for their local policing services and have experienced issues with vacancies in recent years. We welcome the federal government’s commitment to address this by hiring 1,000 more new RCMP officers – it’s through this investment that we will be able to bring more officers to communities across the province.

The BC NDP’s approach is to reduce and prevent crime, or intervene early, and ensure law enforcement and the justice system is adequately resourced to respond. This way police officers are set up for success.

Question 3:

Crime is changing. Organized crime, illicit drugs, cybercrime, human trafficking and increasingly complex investigations require more than traditional frontline policing. The Government of B.C. must ensure public safety infrastructure continues to match the evolution of crime. New investment is needed to enhance capital assets, like police air, marine, and vehicle fleets, officer equipment, and more, all to effectively tackle new and emerging crime like auto theft, organized crime, border security, guns, and natural disasters such as floods and fires. What investments will your party make to ensure the RCMP have the technology and specialized resources they need?

Conservative Party of BC

Technology and Specialized Resources

Crime has changed, and the tools have to keep up. The 150 civilian staff in our plan can take on the analytical and technical work that complex files like organized crime, cybercrime and auto theft now demand. Our 50 new Crown prosecutors will help make sure that investigative work moves through the courts instead of stalling.

For natural disasters, our Wildfire Action Plan will buy new firefighting aircraft, including waterbombers, and create a fund for early detection and prevention technology, so police and first responders aren’t left managing fires and evacuations without support.

The RCMP’s air, marine and vehicle fleets and frontline equipment need long-term investment. A Conservative government will sit down with the NPF and the RCMP early in our mandate to build a multi-year plan for that equipment. We’ll look closely at the proposals in the NPF’s pre-budget submission, including a Public Safety Broadband Network with the federal government and industry.
BC Green Party

The BC Greens recognize that serious crimes like human trafficking, organized crime, and cybercrime require specialized investigations, and that police officers can be left without the resources to do their jobs effectively. Acknowledging this, we do not believe that continually expanding police fleets, equipment, and technology is a sufficient answer to making our communities safer.

Our approach acknowledges that organized crime thrives in environments that have been left in a vacuum of divestment. We understand that a lack of social and material resourcing in our communities along with the criminalization of poverty and survival economies maintains the conditions that we are all seeking to address. For this reason, the focus in our platform is on preventative and community-centered resources, including, when appropriate, community-engaged policing to deal with the problems facing British Columbians. This includes implementing the recommendations of the all-party committee report on Transforming Policing and Community Safety to enact a new Community Safety and Policing Act and to make significant investments in mental health and addictions treatment to better organize police time and resources.
BC NDP

The BC NDP is committed to ensuring that law enforcement has the expertise and modernized tools to address an increasingly complex range of enforcement issues across BC.

For example, under BC NDP leadership, the Province is providing $600,000 over two years to support a pilot project which will use AI and robotics to fight the toxic drug crisis.

We created the Provincial Forensic Firearms Laboratory in 2021 as a centralized firearms intelligence hub for investigations throughout B.C., and this year we invested $600,000 to expand the lab to support police in their investigative work.

We also launched the Health IM tool to enable more sophisticated mental health screenings during police interactions, which has led to a 46% decrease in apprehensions, a 39% reduction in hospital wait times, and a 37% increase in hospital admission rates within the communities where police have access to this tool.

We’ve provided funding to launch a range of specialized police units to combat issues like human trafficking, organized crime, extortion, and hate crimes. If elected, we will continue to do this work in partnership with law enforcement agencies.

Question 4:

Police officers invest significant time and resources investigating crime, gathering evidence and making arrests. Those efforts can be undermined when prosecution and court delays prevent cases from being resolved, or when serious and repeat offenders return quickly to the community without effective intervention. British Columbians deserve a justice system in which every part works together to protect communities and hold offenders accountable. How will you strengthen the broader justice system so that police investigations and arrests result in meaningful accountability?

Conservative Party of BC
A Justice System That Holds Offenders Accountable

When police do the work to investigate and arrest, the rest of the system has to follow through. Accused people shouldn’t walk free because of court delays, and repeat offenders shouldn’t be back on the street before the paperwork is done. A Conservative government will:

Hire 50 new Crown prosecutors to move charges forward faster.

Add sheriff and court capacity so cases aren’t thrown out over delays.

Work with Ottawa to fund 20 more trial judges.

Report publicly on repeat offending, bail compliance and court delays, so British Columbians can see whether offenders are being held accountable.

Police shouldn’t have to arrest the same person again and again. Fixing the back end of the justice system is how we make their work count.
BC Green Party

Ensuring that accountability is prioritized when someone causes harm is the foundation of a safe community. The BC Greens also know that judicial resourcing and capacity is integral to a well functioning and ethical justice system. To this end, the BC Greens would advocate that the judicial complement meets population and caseload needs. This would involve working with partners to determine the feasibility of creating more associate judges to handle non-trial cases, collaborating with and taking leadership from Indigenous Law organizations to identify opportunities for diversion, and investigating opportunities for mediation-focused solutions. In addition, we would: Repeal the Legal Professions Act and reinstate the Law Society to launch a comprehensive review of access to justice in accordance with the Futures Task Force Report; carry out the recommendations from the Transforming Policing and Community Safety in British Columbia report; and create and invest in pre-existing mental, emotional, and spiritual health programs that provide services for men who use violence against others.
BC NDP

The BC NDP is committed to ensuring police and the courts have the resources and tools needed to meet the demands of the justice system and serve the province effectively.

Under the BC NDP, our province led the charge for stronger bail laws and other federal reforms from the federal government.

Our strategy for caseload and increased demand involves continued recruitment efforts, technological and process improvements, ongoing analysis of pain points within the system, strengthened relationships and advocacy with the federal government, and timely appointments of provincial judges (10 new appointments throughout 2026 so far). Following our sustained recruitment and retention efforts, the BC Sheriff Service is also now fully staffed – a 7% increase since 2025. Our plan to hire 50 additional Crown prosecutors and dedicate a unit to focus on extortion, racketeering and gang violence will help to alleviate pressure on the system and ensure that the people who commit crimes are held accountable.

A modernized court system also allows for more timely, accessible, and effective court services for British Columbians. This continues to be a priority for us at the BC NDP. Court services have advanced considerably since 2019, including virtual appearances, scheduling efficiencies, online dispute initiation, e-filing, expanded connectivity, and more.

Question 5:

Making communities safer requires more than simply promising to be “tough on crime.” It requires ensuring police have the people, resources, equipment and specialized services they need to respond effectively, while addressing the underlying issues that contribute to crime and disorder. What else will you do to make our communities safer?

Conservative Party of BC
Making Our Communities Safer

Safer communities mean dealing with what drives crime and disorder, and backing the people who keep us safe. A Conservative government will:

Expand residential treatment and compassionate intervention so people with severe addiction and mental illness get care instead of cycling back to the street.

End safe supply and expand access to naloxone.

Stop illegal drug use in hospitals, shelters and publicly funded supportive housing.

Support the mental health of police and first responders by working with first-responder organizations and WorkSafeBC to speed up psychological-injury decisions and get people treatment while claims are reviewed.

Police deserve a government that has their backs. That’s strong leadership for serious times.
BC Green Party
We know that police officers are often relied on to respond to situations and crises that should be resourced and addressed through other means such as healthcare, education, social assistance, and resourced peer networks. The pressure put on police to respond to incidents of mental health crises, substance-use issues, domestic violence, and a whole host of emergency situations can lead to distress for both the people involved and the officers responding, leading to alarming rates of burnout, trauma, and compassion fatigue for our first responders.

We also know crime is largely a result of unmet need, and it’s for this reason that our overarching, cross-ministerial goal is to decrease the cost of living, increase public resources, and support those who need it – when they need it. In line with these priorities, the BC Greens would:

Increase the amount of accessible, affordable housing in the province by restarting the Community and Indigenous Housing Funds, providing adequate and equitable funding for Indigenous-led Complex Care Housing, and resourcing the Rental Assistance Program (RAP) and the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters (SAFER) program.

Reduce poverty rates by: Raising social assistance and disability rates to market-based measures; funding Indigenous-specific services to address the systemic impacts of anti-Indigenous racism and colonial harm; creating low-barrier access stream to assistance; eliminating intrusive checks that discourage individuals from seeking help, and making the paperwork accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Support children, youth, and young families by: Lifting the freeze on $10/day childcare and implementing universal childcare by 2031; creating school funding programs to ensure resourcing for food, school supplies, and social programming; redirecting ministry funds to address poverty-related neglect and creating conditions in which parents are resourced and supported; recognizing Indigenous jurisdiction over child welfare and supporting Indigenous parents who are or have been in government care or had contact with the criminal justice system.

Invest in healthcare systems to support those in need as well as front line staff by: Integrating mental health as the fourth option in 911 emergency services; investing $500,000 to create consistent protocols for 911 operators, first responders, and mobile crisis teams to ensure coordinated and effective mental health crisis responses; expanding funding for the Crisis Response, Community Led (CRCL) (previously PACT) program; creating and funding an accessible, voluntary system for mental health and substance use, reducing the use of police and criminal justice resources on healthcare issues.

Address the toxic drug crisis and its impacts by: Treating drug use as a health and social issue, not a criminal one; providing regulated pharmaceutical alternatives to the toxic illicit drug supply; enhance access to harm reduction and safe consumption sites that support public safety and create connection points for detox, recovery, housing, and other supports; ensuring children and youth are educated about drug risks and supported by trusted adults to make informed decisions.
BC NDP

From prevention to enforcement, we have a comprehensive range of initiatives underway to address the risk factors and root causes of crime, intervene early to prevent escalation, provide effective enforcement through resourced teams and modernized tools, and adapt to an increasingly complex and sophisticated criminal landscape.

Conservatives make big promises in the area of law enforcement, but haven’t committed enough funding in their platform to pay for it. Beyond that, their own numbers make it clear that they will have to make cuts to spending and will put infrastructure on the chopping block. With no plan for affordable housing or helping with everyday costs, their approach will make things harder for police and communities.

British Columbians want to feel safe in their communities. We hope you’ll agree that re-electing a BC NDP government is the right choice for law enforcement and the public.

Make Your Voting Plan

The B.C. provincial election will be held on October 24, 2026.

Advance voting takes place October 16 to 21. Registered voters should receive a Where to Vote card before advance voting begins.

Register or update your voter information.
Find voting places and voting opportunities.
Review voter eligibility and identification requirements.
Learn about voting by mail and key deadlines.

Use official Elections BC information to confirm the details that apply to you.

Authorized by the National Police Federation, registered sponsor under the Elections Act, communications@npf-fpn.com

B.C. Provincial Election 2026:What’s the Plan for Public Safety?

British Columbians will choose their next provincial government on Saturday, October 24.

Public Safety Requires Provincial Leadership

What B.C.’s RCMP Members Need:

Know Before You Vote: Ask the Right Questions

Ask candidates:

We have asked all participating provincial political parties the same questions. Their responses may be published in full or summarized, so voters can compare their commitments.

Take Action: Ask for a Public Safety Plan

Compare the Parties’ Public Safety Commitments

Question 1:

Question 2:

Question 3:

Question 4:

Question 5:

Make Your Voting Plan

The B.C. provincial election will be held on October 24, 2026.

B.C. Provincial Election 2026:
What’s the Plan for Public Safety?