On behalf of the Commissioner's Command Team and all members of the OPP, I am pleased to present the 2024 OPP Annual Report. This report highlights the many ways OPP members proudly served our province by protecting its citizens, upholding the law and preserving public safety across the province in 2024. This report aligns with our 2023-2025 Strategic Plan priorities of People, Work and Communities, and reaffirms our shared commitment to responding to the needs of the people of Ontario.
The OPP marked a significant milestone in 2024, commemorating 50 years of women in uniform. Throughout the year we honoured and celebrated the pioneering women who first joined the OPP 50 years ago, and the women who followed in their footsteps. These celebrations help us to continue to build pride within our organization, examine and remove barriers to entering a policing career and, hopefully, inspire women to join the OPP.
Our members remained dedicated in their commitment to promoting traffic safety and protecting lives on Ontario’s roads, trails, and waterways. In 2024, OPP members conducted more than 43,000 Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) spot-checks across the province. These events contributed to the more than 11,500 impaired driving charges laid by our officers this year.
We remained steadfast in the fight against guns, gangs, organized crime and illegal drugs in Ontario. The OPP removed more than $110 million worth of illegal drugs from communities and seized more than 1,450 firearms and weapons through Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau projects and teams, including Community Street Crime Unit. In 2024, the Provincial Auto Theft and Towing Team recovered more than 1,400 vehicles valued at more than $120 million.
Members of the OPP-led Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet identified and arrested those making, possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. Between Project Aquatic and Project Orchard there were 547 charges laid against 105 individuals, 920 devices seized and 43 survivors supported. The Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence-Led Joint Forces Strategy carried out 35 proactive investigations, leading to a total of 264 charges, including 214 human trafficking-related offences and 50 additional Criminal Code offences.
In response to evolving community safety needs, we strengthened our emergency management capacity by transitioning 198 part-time Emergency Response Team positions to full time resources. Additionally, 200 officers joined the Public Order Unit, which was deployed to 27 events across the province, including 24 deployments in support of five other police services.
Enhancements made to the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Squad resulted in more than 1,500 arrests of violent repeat offenders in 2024, a 30% increase over 2023. As part of our ongoing commitment to improving officer safety and combatting offender recidivism, the new Bail Support Team introduced tools to strengthen our Offender Management Apprehension Program. This included the Provincial Bail Compliance Dashboard, Wanted Persons Dashboard and Offender Management Dashboard. These tools contribute to officer awareness of wanted offenders and offenders who are out on any judicial release and require further police monitoring. In 2024, OPP members completed more than 3,100 Release Conditions Compliance Reports and laid more than 7,600 charges for failure to comply with release orders.
To better support our members in the critical work they do every day, wellness and mental health remained a core focus in 2024. We added seven new mental health clinicians, who provide accessible and confidential supports to OPP members.
In 2024, our organization hired and trained more than 400 new recruits, 100 experienced officers, 50 new cadets, 120 new auxiliary members, and new professional civilian support staff.
Through the selfless dedication of our members, I take great pride in what our organization has achieved over the past year. Our members remained dedicated to the safety of the communities we serve and the security of Ontario. As our members continue to rise to new challenges and build upon past successes, I look forward to the accomplishments that lie ahead in the coming year and years to come.
Safe Communities...
A Secure Ontario
Serving with
PRIDE, PROFESSIONALISM and HONOUR
Interacting with
RESPECT, COMPASSION and FAIRNESS
Leading with
INTEGRITY, HONESTY and COURAGE
Always doing the right things for the right reasons
To serve our province by protecting its citizens, upholding the law and preserving public safety.
In 1972, the Ontario Solicitor General’s Office formed a taskforce to conduct a full review of policing practices throughout the province. When the report was released in February of 1974, one of the key directives was the goal to increase “the diversity of skills, culture, gender and age represented in police services in Ontario.” As a result, the OPP put out a recruitment call. In May 1974, fifteen women reported for training to the OPP Academy and one month later, on June 21st, 1974, they became the first class to graduate that included women as fulltime provincial constables. In all, 39 women joined the OPP that first year, forever changing the face of policing in Ontario.
As these women embarked on their new careers in the OPP, some were met at detachments with open minds and helpful guidance and others had to challenge the belief that women were not suited to the nature of police work. Over the course of the next 50 years, these early skeptics were proven wrong as more and more milestone achievements were checked off the list and barriers to women in policing were broken. Over and over, women demonstrated that they had the skills, drive and ability to take on any job in the organization.
Under the direction of Executive Sponsor, Deputy Commissioner Kari Dart, the 50th Anniversary year was utilized as an opportunity to not only celebrate these pioneering, trailblazing women, but to recognize and evaluate why women remain under-represented within the policing profession today.
The anniversary year became one of celebration, reflection, assessment and planning for the future. The 2024 Annual Report features the celebrations and initiatives related to 50 Years of Women in Uniform, reflects on past accomplishments, and highlights opportunities going forward.
The goal now is to keep this momentum going to drive issues forward through meaningful dialogue, awareness building and cultural evolution.
Project co-leads: Superintendent Laura Houliston and Chief Superintendent Heath Crichton
For 34 years, the Police Services Act, 1990 (PSA) was the legislative framework for police service delivery in Ontario.
While the PSA was occasionally amended, policing and public safety changed considerably during this time. Factors such as advances in technology, greater understanding of the social/economic factors that contribute to crime and violence and public calls for accountability and oversight, meant the PSA no longer fit the present-day policing context.
A replacement for the PSA — the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA) - came into force on April 1, 2024. The CSPA brings changes to Ontario’s policing legislative landscape in four core areas: (1) Community Safety; (2) Governance and Oversight; (3) Education and Training Requirements; and (4) First Nations Policing.
In anticipation of the CSPA coming into force, the OPP identified a project team that led an assessment of the CSPA and its associated regulations. This supported identifying where the organization was required to make changes or enhancements to be in compliance with the new Act. This effort was organization-wide, involving many OPP members from across all ranks and Commands of the OPP. Following the organizational assessment, the OPP is tracking the organization’s progress in adopting the CSPA, ensuring compliance with the legislation and associated regulations on all fronts.
