Police associations endorsing Conservative Party of Canada

No police officer who is a member of a police service maintained by a police service board shall engage in political activity, except as permitted by the regulations.

Section 86 of the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019

Police officers must not express views on issues related to their job

Police officers are only allowed to engage in certain political activities while on and off-duty.

While off-duty, they are not allowed to express views on any issues directly related to their responsibility as a police officer or engage in political activity that would be likely to place them in a conflict of interest.

While on-duty, they are not allowed to support or oppose a specific candidate or party, or a specific position of a candidate/party, and can only express views on issues if they are authorized to do so by the chief of police or, in the case of the chief of police, the police service board.

Permitted activities while off-duty

5. (1) A police officer may engage in any political activity if the officer is off-duty and not in uniform, except that the officer may not,

• (a) express views on any issues directly related to the police officer’s responsibility as a police officer;
• (b) associate any of the police officer’s views with the police officer’s position or represent those views as those of a police service;
• (c) solicit or receive funds, including doing so on behalf of a political organization or on behalf of a candidate in an election; or
• (d) engage in any political activity that would place or be likely to place the police officer in a position of conflict of interest.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1) and subject to the restrictions set out in that subsection, a police officer may,

• (a) attend and participate in a public meeting, including,
  • (i) a meeting with elected representatives or government officials, or
  • (ii) a meeting with candidates in an election;
• (b) attend and participate in a meeting or convention of a political organization;
• (c) canvass on behalf of a political organization, or on behalf of a candidate in an election;
• (d) act as a scrutineer for a candidate in an election; and
• (e) on the polling day of an election, transport electors to a polling place on behalf of a candidate.

Political Activity, O. Reg. 402/23

Permitted on-duty activities

6. If authorized to do so by the chief of police or, in the case of the chief of police, the police service board, a police officer may, on behalf of a police service,

(a) express views on any issue, as long as the police officer does not, during an election campaign, express views supporting or opposing,

• (i) a candidate in the election or a political party that has nominated a candidate in the election, or
• (ii) a position taken by a candidate in the election or by a political party that has nominated a candidate in the election; and

(b) attend and participate in a public meeting, subject to the restrictions set out in clause (a).

Political Activity, O. Reg. 402/23

Toronto Police Service Board’s policy prohibits political endorsements

Toronto Police Service Board’s policy states that members of the Toronto Police Association, including its President, are subject to the Police Services Act (now the Community Safety and Policing Act) and are therefore prohibited from endorsing or opposing candidates in an election:

Members of the Toronto Police Association and/or its Executive are subject to the Police Services Act and its Regulations and are, therefore, like every municipal police officer, prohibited from endorsing or opposing candidates in an election.

It is the policy of the Toronto Police Services Board that: 

1. The endorsement or opposition of political candidates by municipal police officers is prohibited by the Police Services Act and its Regulations; 
2. Members of the Toronto Police Association or its Executive are subject to the Police Services Act and its Regulations; 
3. The Chief of Police will communicate with the Toronto Police Service each time an election campaign commences to reiterate that police officers are prohibited from using their status as police officers to endorse or oppose candidates during an election; and 
4. The Chief of Police will discipline any police officer who contravenes this policy.

Political Activity of Police Officers

The Police Board affirmed this position in 2010 under the Police Services Act, before the Community Safety and Policing Act was implemented.

Take action

• Violations of Police Board policies should be reported to the municipal Police Services Board.
• Violations of the Canada Elections Act should be reported to the Commissioner of Canada Elections
• Violations of the Community Safety and Policing Act should be reported to Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA)