Vancouver council has backed a proposal to open a police academy in the Downtown Eastside’s Woodward’s building.
On Wednesday, Coun. Brian Montague (a former Vancouver Police Department officer) brought a motion to the city’s standing committee on policy and strategic priorities asking for $1.2 million in one-time funding for the training academy.
The money would be used for capital improvements, equipment and related setup costs.
“The satellite VPD Police Training Academy, if provincially approved, is expected to be cost-neutral through redeployment within the VPD’s existing authorized strength,” Montague wrote in his motion.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Montague noted the proposed academy would go in the old London Drugs location that closed due to ongoing problems with theft and related crime.
“That space will be empty for a very, very long time,” Montague said, unless the training academy takes over the site.
The old London Drugs location inside the Vancouver Woodward’s building on Jan. 7, 2026.
All rookie municipal police officers are currently trained at the Justice Institute of B.C. in New Westminster at a cost of $50,000 per recruit.
Montague claims “the number of recruit training seats available annually at the JIBC Police Academy is insufficient to meet the combined demand of independent municipal police services across the province, creating a structural training bottleneck that limits the ability of departments to offset retirements, attrition, and approved staffing growth.
“This training capacity constraint has materially affected the Vancouver Police Department’s ability to onboard new officers, contributing to chronic staffing pressures, increased overtime expenditures, operational inefficiencies, and impacts on officer wellness and front line service delivery.”
Montague’s motion comes the same month the Vancouver police board told council that the training academy was a “priority initiative”, alongside the creation of a new district within the DTES.
Mayor Ken Sim had earlier sent a letter to the provincial government seeking its consent to set up the homegrown training academy.
“To date, despite repeated requests, the province has not provided the city, the Vancouver Police Department, or the Vancouver police board with a clear response or timeline for a decision regarding approval of a VPD police training academy,” Montague wrote in his motion, which was approved by seven votes to four.
Coun. Rebecca Bligh, who opposed the motion, noted the VPD’s annual operating budget was recently increased by 10 per cent.
City staff have been asked to report to council on what steps are needed to establish the academy.
Related