Vauxhall discusses Police Funding Model

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Vauxhall Advance

By Nikki Jamieson
Vauxhall Advance
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Vauxhall council is looking at some steep increased for their policing budget for the next five years.

During their regular Jan. 5 meeting, Vauxhall town council reviewed some information about the Police Funding Model (PFM).

The Province of Alberta is responsible for providing policing services to communities with populations under 5,000. It contracts and pays for the RCMP to provide this service through the Provincial Police Service Agreement (PPSA) with the federal government, under which it pays 70 per cent of provincial policing costs with the federal government covering the remaining 30 per cent.

After being renewed by the province, the PFM and amended Police Funding Regulation will go into effect on April 1, 2026. The PFM redistributes a portion of the frontline costs to municipalities receiving RCMP services under the Provincial Police Service Agreement. Individual municipality contributions under the PFM will slowly increase to 20 per cent over a five-year period, with costs based on actual frontline policing costs from the most recent year. Under the model, starting in 2026, municipalities will contribute:

• 22 per cent (2026-27)

• 24 per cent (2027-28)

• 26 per cent (2028-29)

• 28 per cent (2029-30)

• 30 per cent (2030-31)

According to the town’s 2024-26 operating budget, $66,000 was budgeted for policing each year, roughly a third of the town’s public services budget. When asked how much more they would be paying for policing, CAO Cris Burns said they would be paying about “90 by the time this term is over”. 

“It doesn’t change service for us, it doesn’t change anything for us. We’re just paying more,” said Mayor Kimberly Cawley, noting it was a steep increase. “Previously, small communities didn’t pay for policing at all. So, this is fairly new to us. And now we’re just paying for continued increases.”

“It’s tough when we have limited policing services in our community, we see more of a need, costs are going up, and service doesn’t increase.”

Burns said he was “naïve” in thinking that the first increases were the final increases.

Before the current funding model was introduced, Alberta communities with populations under 5,000 received policing services from the province for free. Once it was introduced in 2020, it was planned to gradually increase a municipality’s contribution from 20 per cent in 2020 to 30 per cent in 2023. However, according to a recent press release on the renewed PFM, contributions were based on 2018 costs and municipalities are contributing only 19 per cent of front-line policing costs today.

“Municipalities told us the police funding model needs to be predictable, transparent and easy to understand. Costs have outpaced the original formula, meaning communities currently pay less than their intended share. As policing costs continue to rise, funding front-line policing remains a shared responsibility between the province and municipalities. These updates align municipal contributions with current costs and ensure every dollar collected goes directly to front-line policing in rural communities,” said Mike Ellis, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services for the province, in the release.

Council reviewed the information for information.