The RCMP will not meet its recruiting goal this year and is launching a new national campaign Monday to attract more young people to the force, The Canadian Press has learned.
The $800,000 advertising blitz is aimed at the 18-to-34 age group -- potential recruits young enough to be the children of veteran officers who will be retiring in droves over the next few years.
Designed around a pitch that the RCMP offers an exciting, meaningful career with vast opportunities, the campaign will target members of the Internet generation who are being courted by other employers faced with Canada's labour shortage.
"The crucial point is that we as an organization must be seen as a viable employer and people need to know that we are hiring,'' said Supt. Glen Siegersma, officer in charge of the RCMP's national recruiting program in Ottawa.
"All I ask they do is take a moment and look at us as a potential employer and make an informed decision as to whether or not it is something they would like to pursue rather than writing us off because of urban myth.''
Such urban myths include beliefs that the RCMP only wants to hire members of minority groups, people who are bilingual or university graduates -- a throwback to conditions a decade or more ago when a tight job market allowed the force to cherry-pick recruits.
In fact, a prospective officer must simply be a healthy Canadian citizen of good character at least 19 years old, speak English or French, have a high school diploma and possess a valid driver's licence.
The campaign will feature 34 million Internet ads, including ads on the websites of radio stations that are popular with the target age group. There will also be ads on job websites such as Monster and Workopolis and on other sites such as Hotmail and Yahoo.
Colourful posters of RCMP members in action will be placed in fitness centres and on transit buses and subways, all extolling the job as "A Career Nowhere Near Ordinary.''
There will also be radio spots in Atlantic Canada and Nunavut and ads in publications aimed at post-secondary students, aboriginals and ethnic communities.
The plan is for the ads to entice young people to contact recruiters or click on the RCMP website (www.rcmp.ca) to ask about career opportunities.
The demand for new recruits has never been greater as the force expands, and more than 600 officers from the baby boom generation are to retire each year over the next few years.
While the RCMP plans to recruit about 2,000 people annually, the force will only sign up about 1,700 this year, Siegersma said from Ottawa.
"We are going to be a little shy on those goals this year.''
Along with the ad campaign, the Mounties have been beating the bushes at career fairs and presentations across Canada.
The aging force
At 28, the average age of Mountie recruits is creeping up. More than one-third of the 1,509 recruits who signed up last year for the training program at the Regina Depot were over 30.
Of those who managed to pass the gruelling course, 358 were in their 30s and 35 were in their 40s. Four members of the class were in their 50s.
Ten years ago, only 20 per cent of graduates were over 30. Last year, that number was up to 32 per cent.
Cadets such as Wayne Dunn, 42, and Jacques Albert, 46, say the intense physical training is not something every older person can tolerate, but they are holding their own.
"If you come here and you are in good shape, it's pretty good. You can follow everybody else,'' Albert said during a break from depot training.
He said his biggest challenge has been working with computers.
"When I graduated high school we didn't have computers.''
Dunn said there may even be benefits to being an older recruit.
"You're bringing a lot of life experience in,'' he said. "That can only help you.''
While the RCMP is happy to have older recruits, it makes good business sense to train more young people and retain them longer, Siegersma said.
Part of the pitch to young people is that they can switch jobs regularly within the RCMP.
"We have more than 150 different types of jobs within the organization and so there are lots of opportunities for people to continue to challenge themselves over an entire career.''
The growing demand for recruits doesn't mean the RCMP is lowering standards, though.
Siegersma said only about one out of every eight people who apply pass the rigid screening process. The hurdles include a written test, a polygraph and running an obstacle course. There are also medical and psychological exams and an in-depth interview.
And if accepted for training, there is no guarantee a recruit will pass the 24-week course and earn the right to wear the scarlet uniform that will mark him or her as a member of the iconic organization.
"We need the best of what Canadian society has to offer,'' Siegersma said.
"I would not entrust the lives of Canadian citizens to anyone who shouldn't be there. We are creating members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.''
