Surrey, BC completes transition to municipal police force

The council of Surrey, British Columbia has approved its 2026 policing priorities — focused on organised crime and extortion — marking the completion of the city's multi-year transition from RCMP policing to its own municipal Surrey Police Service. The city has also agreed a CAD 284.5 million policing budget for the new force.

The transition has been long and costly, offering a real-world case study for any city or region considering whether to replace a national or regional police service with a locally controlled force, including the budgetary and operational challenges involved in standing up a new service from scratch.