15 new NAPS constables get their badges amid hiring blitz
By Matt Prokopchuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: TBnewswatch.com
The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service has over a dozen new constables.
The First Nations-led police service, which operates in 34 First Nations across Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory in Ontario’s far north, awarded badges to 15 new officers in a ceremony on Jan. 9. They’ve already been sworn in, meaning they’re now ready to be deployed to their communities.
Scott Paradis, the service’s media relations coordinator, said it’s the end result of completing training through the Ontario Police College and separate blocks of instruction by NAPS itself.
“Now that we are a fully legislated police service, our complement number needs to be much higher,” Paradis said in an interview with Newswatch. “And our recruitment unit is working tremendously at getting qualified applicants to those police college intakes.”
The service became fully legislated under the province’s Community Safety and Policing Act in late 2024 after opting in. Since then, Paradis said, the force has been looking to effectively double the number of sworn officers it has.
He said they had just over 260 officers at the time of signing the agreement in December, 2024. The Ontario Police College has four intakes per year, Paradis added, with NAPS having 20 seats reserved for each one.
“We are working, doing everything that we can, to make sure that we have as close to as 20 recruits as we can get,” he said. “We are happy to see these larger classes because there is a great need for more officers in our 34 communities.”
Nishnawbe Aski police is increasing its numbers at a time of stiff competition for qualified recruits in policing. The Thunder Bay Police Service has said it is having to compete with other forces, like NAPS, for those prospective officers.
“I think it’s an incredible challenge, and our recruitment unit seems to be up to the task,” Paradis said. “They’re doing a tremendous job at finding qualified applicants and getting these larger class sizes through the Ontario Police College.”
“Our in-service training units, they also have a pretty significant task ahead of them because they have to manage these large classes and make sure that they’re prepared before they go to police college,” he continued. “There’s a block of training, and then once they return from police college there’s another block of training before they are ready to receive their badges.”
“It’s an incredible amount of work, and we have multiple units that are dedicated to making sure that we are getting the best and the brightest to the communities.”
Friday’s ceremony also celebrated the return of a canine unit to NAPS, as it had been without one since 2016.
Const. Daniel Birch and his partner Becks were deployed on December 6th, 2025.
