The union that represents Toronto police officers and civilians has reached a tentative five-year collective agreement with the Toronto Police Services Board.
The Toronto Police Services Board (Board) and the Toronto Police Association (Association) have reached tentative agreements for the six collective bargaining agreements representing uniform and civilian staff,” The Board said in a statement released Saturday afternoon. “This follows two months of collective bargaining between the Board and the Association.”
The tentative agreement comes as the board approved an increase in the police budget —$30 million — for the first time in three years.
In 2019, the police service is expected to hire 300 new officers, 122 special constables and 186 part-time retirees to complete clerical work and free up sworn police officers to fill frontline roles.
The relationship between the Toronto Police Service and its union has been fraught at times in recent years, with the Toronto Police Association criticizing aspects of the transformation the service embarked on in 2017.
Toronto Police Association Mike McCormack has said that certain divisions in the city do not have enough officers on duty to respond to the calls they receive.
The latest budget from police indicates the size of the service has decreased by 818 officers between 2010 and 2018, from 5,615 to 4,797 officers. That number is expected to stabilize this year.
Meanwhile, Chief Mark Saunders has said that he has sought changes to the officers’ collective agreement to allow more officers to patrol at night, in a bid to deter rising amounts of gun violence occurring in the city.
The agreements must be ratified by the membership at an undisclosed later date.
