Add another chapter to the seemingly endless saga of Surrey’s police transition.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says the city has learned the full transition from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) will now take an additional year longer than the planned 2026 completion date.
“There will be serious cost implications as we take it out and project it another year,” Locke said on Friday.
“That was not something that was ever discussed with Surrey at the table, and I think that’s one of the things that is the biggest part of my concern, is that Surrey has been left out of that dialogue.”
Since being elected in 2022 on a pledge to keep the Surrey RCMP, Locke has clashed repeatedly with the provincial government over the transition.
That battle finally came to an end last year after an unsuccessful legal challenge on the part of the city, and the SPS formally took command in November 2024.
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However the SPS still doesn’t have enough officers to fully patrol the city. It currently covers two districts, while the RCMP officers under the Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit are responsible for three others, and now appear poised to work in the city for an extra year.
Surrey City Coun. Linda Annis said she’s not surprised the transition is moving slowly, but pinned the pace on the city.
“There’s been delay after delay on the city’s part around the police transition,” Annis said.
“When the mayor came into office, first and foremost, what she said is that we’re not keeping the Surrey Police Service. That has caused an awful lot of unrest about people that potentially would be recruits or transitioning over to the Surrey Police Service. We lost a year and a half while this went on and we had our court battle.”
Even so, Annis said the transition is moving forward, with the SPS set to fully take responsibility for another district, South Surrey, by the end of the year.
It comes the same week as Premier David Eby appointed Victoria-Swan Lake MLA Nina Krieger as the new minister of public safety and solicitor general in a cabinet shuffle.
In a statement, the ministry said the province has made no formal request to the federal government to extend the memorandum of understanding that governs the current RCMP contract in the city — but didn’t rule the possibility out, either.
“All parties, including the City, are participating in the transition group and are aware of the potential need to extend the RCMP temporary transitional supports,” the ministry said.
“This is contingent on the SPS meeting all of its police recruitment targets and other Police Act requirements.”
It remains unclear how much an extension could cost taxpayers in the Surrey or B.C.
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