The British Columbia government is opening new police training centres in Vancouver and Victoria to address a surge in demand for municipal officers across the province. On March 6, 2026, the province approved these two satellite sites to help municipal police departments train new recruits faster.
According to the BC government, these new locations will act as branches of the Justice Institute of B.C. (JIBC) Police Academy. While the satellite sites in Vancouver and Victoria will be self-funded by those specific cities, the main police academy in New Westminster is also growing. Starting in May 2026, the main campus will increase its capacity to train 144 recruits per cohort, up from the previous limit of 96.
This provincial expansion for municipal officers comes as the Prince Rupert RCMP continues to settle into its new home. The local detachment moved into a modern building in April 2025 that was specifically built with enough room for 36 RCMP staff and 17 municipal employees to allow for future growth.
The new satellite training sites are currently set to run for two years. While these sites and the JIBC expansion primarily serve municipal police forces, the province says the broader push to increase training capacity is part of an overall effort to improve public safety. However, because Prince Rupert is served by the RCMP—which trains its recruits at the federal “Depot” in Regina rather than the JIBC—it remains unclear how directly these specific provincial measures will impact local recruitment on the North Coast.
