City council will further discuss the proposed 2026-29 budget for the Grande Prairie Police Service at planned deliberations later this month.
According to a presentation made earlier this week, the service is seeking just over $38 million in funding for 2026, which includes $1 million for transition costs. The budget summary states that the remainder would cover items such as officer salaries, mobile outreach, police operations support and more.
Jackie Clayton, mayor of Grande Prairie, said the GPPS “really helped break down the costs of the upcoming transition.”
“I think that Chief Lakusta and Commission Chair Wong did a great job of presenting to council the realities of transitions cost,” she adds.
2026 is expected to be the last year the service will need transitional funding, but in 2027 the city would be paying roughly $1.6 million toward a contract with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police if the budget is passed. The proposed 2027 budget is $37.1 million.
With no RCMP contract services in the budget for 2028, costs will drop slightly: the proposed 2028 budget is $36.7 million. The cost is projected to rise again in 2029 to $38.1 million.
Budget deliberations are currently scheduled to take place November 26 to November 28 at Grande Prairie City Hall and will be open to the public.
