Canada’s national police force has quietly acknowledged it cannot properly run its own forensic crime labs, forcing investigators in multiple provinces to outsource critical testing to private companies at higher cost in order to keep criminal cases moving.Blacklock's Reporter says an internal RCMP audit found chronic mismanagement of biology casework at federal forensic laboratories in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, with delays so severe that fewer than half of police clients were satisfied with turnaround times. According to the report, only 50% of surveyed users said routine services were delivered quickly enough.The evaluation revealed police agencies are increasingly bypassing Mountie labs altogether, opting instead to pay private firms for faster results to meet court and charge approval deadlines. Auditors noted that while private labs charge more, delays within the RCMP system make outsourcing the more practical option.The RCMP operates forensic laboratories in Surrey, Edmonton and Ottawa and serves as the primary forensic provider for police agencies and courts across Canada, with the exception of Ontario and Québec, which maintain their own facilities. Costs for the federal labs are shared with participating provinces..Auditors warned the biology services program is facing a long-term sustainability crisis due to staffing shortages, high turnover and persistent recruitment and retention problems. These pressures have undermined the RCMP’s ability to meet even its revised service standards.Before 2016, Mountie labs promised to complete routine forensic testing within 40 days. The audit found only 42% to 54% of cases met that benchmark. In 2017, management extended the standard to 65 days, yet performance still failed to improve.Over the past six years, average turnaround times for homicide and sexual assault cases routinely exceeded the 65-day target, according to the report. By 2021, backlogs had grown so severe that the RCMP temporarily refused to accept anything but the most serious cases..That year, National Forensic Laboratory Services limited intake to violent crimes, citing pandemic restrictions and globally scarce consumables. The bottleneck has persisted even as normal operations resumed.Last year, RCMP labs received 8,693 cases. Sexual assault files took an average of 73 days to complete, while homicide cases averaged 77 days — well beyond internal standards.The audit concluded the problem is far from resolved. Routine service requests are still failing to meet the needs of police and prosecutors, and there is no clear indication the RCMP will be able to bring delays under control in the future.
