RCMP Jammers Exemption Order

Summary#

This is a proposed exemption called Radiocommunication Act Exemption Order (Jammers — Royal Canadian Mounted Police), No. 2024-1. Published on December 30, 2023, it would let certain Royal Canadian Mounted Police employees lawfully install and use radiocommunication jammers for specific purposes, subject to conditions, replacing a 2019 order. Interested people have 30 days from publication to comment.

What it does#

• Exempts employees of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’s Technical Investigation Services and other RCMP staff who need jammers for their duties or training from the jammer ban in the Radiocommunication Act.
• Limits the exemption to these purposes:
  • national security
  • public safety, including work related to penitentiaries and prisons
  • international relations
  • investigation or prosecution of offences in Canada, including preserving evidence
  • protection of property or preventing serious harm to people
• Requires several safeguards before and during use:
  • RCMP must give contact details for people responsible for jammers to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and keep them updated.
  • Staff using jammers must have, or be receiving, specialized training and access to RCMP directives about jammers.
  • Use must be limited in space, frequency, power and time to the minimum needed.
  • Devices must allow power and frequency adjustments, be stored securely and only accessed by authorized, exempted staff.
  • RCMP must keep records for each use (who used it, where and when, which frequencies, and the purpose).
• The order would take effect on registration, last for five years, and repeal SOR/2019-269 (the previous RCMP jammer order).

Who's affected#

• Directly: RCMP employees in Technical Investigation Services and other RCMP staff who need jammers for duties or training.
• Oversight and enforcement: ISED staff and inspectors, who will receive contact information and check compliance.
• Indirectly: members of the public and businesses that rely on wireless services, because jammer use can cause temporary radio interference. The document says safeguards are meant to limit that.
• The source says small businesses are not expected to have costs from this order.

Why it matters#

• It lets the RCMP use a tool (jammers) that can be important in emergencies, prison security, investigations, and preserving evidence — but only under narrow, listed purposes.
• The order tries to balance public safety and national security needs with the risk that jammers can disrupt cellphone, radio, or other wireless services by imposing training, technical limits, record-keeping, and oversight by ISED.
• Because this is a proposed order, the public can comment for 30 days. The final order would only be in force once registered.