A list of ways Kelowna is overpaying for policing

It’s no secret that policing costs have been skyrocketing in Kelowna for years, but a review requested by the city now shows the details.

On Monday, March 30, Kelowna city council is going to hear a report from a private company that found a list of ways the city is overpaying for police by comparing Kelowna’s costs to other cities and looking at actual police coverage.

The city hired PwC, a third-party consulting firm, to review the city’s current RCMP contract policing model and compare it to the independent police services like Surrey’s.

PwC found that the city is paying more for policing than other communities and it isn’t getting as effective service.

Kelowna’s policing costs have risen 66 per cent between 2020 and 2024. The 2026 city budget has the cost of police services and RCMP at $83.2 million.

PwC found that other municipal and RCMP services in B.C. rose at 30 to 35 per cent over the same time period, 2020 to 2024.

“Kelowna’s rising costs are not clearly related to local service enhancements,” PwC said in its review.

Kelowna’s population has grown 11 per cent, far slower than its policing costs. Kelowna is also paying 20 per cent more per officer, but getting worse service coverage than other cities, it has a 31 per cent worse population to officer ratio than other cities.

Calls for service decreased by 5 per cent between 2021 and 2024, with 62 per cent of calls at priority three or four which is low urgency and a third of calls specifically for mental health or social disorder related incidents.

“This trend, alongside a growing share of low-priority calls and Kelowna’s high non-violent crime rate, indicates that a significant portion of Kelowna’s police workload could be effectively handled by non‑sworn responders which would reduce sworn member workload and provide support better aligned to individual and community needs while reducing costs,” PwC said.

PwC did a “should cost” analysis that found Kelowna RCMP costs could be $17 million cheaper if costs had simply grown with population, calls for service and inflation.

“Costs of policing have outpaced population growth, inflation and demand for services, which points to decreasing value for money over time. This is likely indicative of systemic inefficiency or productivity constraints not related to local factors or service levels,” PwC said in its review.