Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer has released a report which estimates it will cost $131 million dollars over five years to purchase Body Worn Cameras for the RCMP’s 700 detachments.

The price of the body worn camera and digital evidence management system was based on costs identified by the Toronto Police Service.

The cost in the first year was reduced to $27 million dollars to reflect the targeted May 2021 contract start date and national roll out of the technology. For the each of the next two years cost is estimated at $36 million and for each of the final two years, cost is estimated at $16 million.

The PBO estimates the RCMP will purchase 12,500 body worn cameras and digital management systems.

By the end of 2021 the Saskatoon Police Service is hoping to have 25 officers with body worn cameras. Saskatoon’s Police Chief Troy Cooper, in a year-end interview with CJWW News, indicated the storage cost for storing the data from the cameras is one of their biggest expenses, at approximately $490,000 this year, for the pilot project.