The inquiry into one of the worst mass shootings in modern Canadian history says police training across Canada needs to be overhauled, and points to Finland as a potential model.

The Mass Casualty Commission, the inquiry that investigated a 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia that left 22 dead, recommended the overhaul in its final report released in March.

It suggested all of Canada’s police forces — not just the RCMP — look to Finland, which requires a three-year degree for police officers.

Under the current RCMP model, recruits spend six months at Depot, the force’s training facility in Saskatchewan. That is followed by six months of on-the-job training.

The commission’s report called this model “inadequate to prepare RCMP members for the complex demands of contemporary policing.”

It also said the RCMP’s operational effectiveness has been impaired by its “failure to embrace a research-based approach to program development and police education and its lack of openness to independent research.”

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CBC News
May 2, 2023