B.C. expands police academy, adding 50% more student spaces

B.C. has added a significant number of new spaces to the provincial training academy for municipal, transit and tribal police recruits.

"The needs of police services have grown in recent years," Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger said. "And this is due to retirement, to targeted recruitment efforts and also to the addition of a new municipal police service in Surrey."

The Justice Institute of B.C. will receive a funding boost of $4 million to hire new instructors, purchase new equipment, and create additional space for 92 added seats at the academy in New Westminster.

This will increase annual capacity to 288 officers from 192. Training is broken into three blocks over the course of 25 weeks, with both classroom and field instruction provided. This expansion, which took effect in Sept