AB Government: New grant for Indigenous and municipal communities

Press Release

Alberta government’s new Community Policing Grant will help Indigenous and municipal communities develop a business case for their own stand-alone police service or a regional equivalent.

The Community Policing Grant will offer up to $30,000 to Indigenous and municipal communities to assist in preparing a business case outlining local needs, capital requirements and transition considerations.

This grant formalizes funding that government provided in the past but makes it more accessible to all municipalities and Indigenous communities. In 2018, a separate, one-time grant for about the same amount was provided to a First Nation that developed and submitted a business case the Alberta government is now reviewing.

“Communities in Alberta should be served by police services that have a deep-rooted understanding of the surrounding land and people. If Indigenous communities in the province feel they would be better served by an independent police service, we are ready to work alongside them to help achieve their safety and security goals.”

Tyler Shandro, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General

Indigenous communities and municipalities interested in applying for the police service business case grant are invited to submit a written submission to [email protected].

Quick facts

• The First Nations and Inuit Policing Program is a national, federally administered program that funds First Nation police services.
• Under this program, 52 per cent of funding is provided by the federal government and 48 per cent by the provinces.
• Alberta supports the work of the Blood Tribe, Lakeshore and Tsuut’ina Nation police services with annual funding of $6.4 million to this cost-sharing program. Alberta also spends more than $500,000 every year to pay for a crime prevention coordinator for each First Nation police service.
• More than two years ago, the federal government announced that it was going to overhaul this program, designate First Nation policing as an essential service and make more funding available to First Nations. This commitment remains unfulfilled.

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