More than 50 police services in Ontario have announced the launch of a new joint recruitment campaign titled "Answer the Call" aimed at attracting more officers, amid a growing shortage of police personnel across the province.

The campaign, which has the support of the Progressive Conservative government in Ontario, has been deemed "a practical response to an increasing challenge," as confirmed by Lisa Darling, the executive director of the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards (OAPSB), who is involved in leading the initiative.

Darling stated in a press release: “Police services across Ontario are under real pressure to fill critical positions, and the boards witness this pressure every day.”

Ontario's Attorney General, Michael Kerzner, noted during a virtual press conference held today that wearing the service uniform as a police officer “is not only a noble thing, but it also defines what makes Ontario and Canada truly special.”

Kerzner revealed that the number of graduates from Ontario's Police College has increased from around 1,200 in 2022 to more than 2,100 this year, affirming the government's commitment to “exploring how to increase these numbers” in the future.

The campaign statement explained that the shortage of officers directly impacts public safety, response times, and the well-being of the officers themselves. The initiative aims to address this shortage with a focus on “modernizing recruitment and opening the door to a more diverse range of candidates.”

For his part, Roger Wilkie, vice president of the Halton Regional Police Service, said that one of the main reasons for this shortage is the early retirement of officers and the societal shifts in perception of the policing profession.

Several agencies are involved in leading the initiative, including the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), the Police Association of Ontario (PAO), the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO), the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA), and the Toronto Police Association (TPA).

The campaign is set to continue through social media and billboards across the province over the coming months.