The government of Nova Scotia says it will be spending $16 million more this year and $18 million in future annual funding to add 25 new RCMP officers.

The planned expansion of the police force comes at a time when the RCMP continues to face criticism about its effectiveness.

A public inquiry into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting called for governments to reconsider the role of the Mounties, particularly in rural policing.

Justice Minister Scott Armstrong says he has confidence in the RCMP, and believes they need more resources to do their jobs.

Armstrong says the additional funding and officers will help make communities across the province safer, giving the RCMP the resources they need to provide the level of service Nova Scotians expect.

The probe into the shooting rampage that claimed 22 lives in rural Nova Scotia, called the Mass Casualty Commission, released its 300-page final report in 2023 with 130 non-binding recommendations — half of which focused on policing.

It also suggested Ottawa should rethink the RCMP’s central role in Canadian policing, and highlighted the ways in which the RCMP missed critical warning signs about the gunman, dismissing reports of domestic violence and possession of illegal firearms.

The commission also offered pointed criticism of the Mounties’ response to the shootings, its failure to promptly send alerts to the public, and it called for the closure of the RCMP’s training depot in Regina to be replaced with a three-year-degree police education model.