Anyone in Grande Prairie needing a criminal background check for a job or volunteer opportunity no longer has to go to the RCMP detachment to get it completed. The RCMP is piloting a six-month program that will allow criminal record checks to be accessed online.
Corporal Deanna Fontaine says the option to retrieve the information in person will still be available at all detachment locations, with the pilot acting as more of an added option.
“This online tool is something we have been testing for a bit and launching today in a cross-section across the province of smaller, medium, and large detachments, Grande Prairie being one of the largest in the pilot,” she says.
“It’s very common for employment and volunteer purposes, so this will facilitate where a person may not be able to go in person, or may just want to do it from the convenience of their home.”
Fontaine says if the pilot program shows signs of success, mounties will weigh their options when it comes to potentially expanding the program into more jurisdictions.
“We’re just sort of testing the viability, and how successful it is, [and] from there we would consider whether we would extend that pilot or expand it,” she adds.
The pilot program will run until the end of March 2022 in municipalities across Alberta including Drayton Valley, Drumheller, St. Albert, St. Paul, Sundre, and Sylvan Lake.
