List of Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners

Commissioner is the highest rank of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and of its predecessor agencies, the North-West Mounted Police (1873 to 1904) and the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (1904 to February 1, 1920). The Commissioner reports directly to the Minister of Public Safety.

Rank badge of the Commissioner
Commissioner Bob Paulson speaking at the opening of the 65th Glengarry Highland Games in 2012

The Commissioner of the RCMP is the Principal Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces. He or she also serves as the Commissioner of Firearms under the Firearms Act.[1]

Rank slip-on of the Commissioner

The Canadian monarch is the honorary Commissioner-in-Chief and Charles, Prince of Wales, is the Honorary Commissioner of the RCMP.[2] However, neither exercises a substantive role in the operation of the organization.

List of Commissioners

There have been 24 Commissioners since the founding of the NWMP in 1873:

Commissioner William Higgitt and Queen Elizabeth II, RCMP Centennial Celebrations, Regina, 1973
Agency Number Name Term Start Term End Notes
North-West Mounted Police (NWMP)

(1873–1920)

 1. W. Osborne Smith September 25, 1873 October 17, 1873 First Commissioner of the NWMP.
2. George Arthur French October 18, 1873 July 21, 1876
3. James Farquharson MacLeod July 22, 1876 October 31, 1880
4. Acheson Gosford Irvine November 1, 1880 March 31, 1886
5. Lawrence William Herchmer April 1, 1886 July 31, 1900
6. Aylesworth Bowen Perry August 1, 1900 March 31, 1923 The NWMP merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the RCMP, thus Perry was the final Commissioner of the NWMP and the first Commissioner of the RCMP.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

(1920–present)

7. Cortlandt Starnes April 1, 1923 July 31, 1931
8. Sir James Howden MacBrien August 1, 1931 March 5, 1938
9. Stuart Taylor Wood March 6, 1938 April 30, 1951
10. Leonard Hanson Nicholson May 1, 1951 March 31, 1959
11. Charles Edward Rivett-Carnac April 1, 1959 March 31, 1960
12. Clifford Walter Harvison April 1, 1960 October 31, 1963
13. George Brinton McClellan November 1, 1963 August 14, 1967
14. Malcolm Francis Aylesworth Lindsay August 15, 1967 September 30, 1969 RCMP Patrol Vessel Lindsay was named in his honour.
15. William Leonard Higgitt October 1, 1969 December 28, 1973 RCMP Patrol Vessel Higgitt was named in his honour.
16. Maurice Jean Nadon January 1, 1974 August 31, 1977 RCMP Patrol Vessel Nadon was named in his honour.

The present day RCMP National Headquarters building in Ottawa was named in his honour on October 05th, 2011.

17. Robert Henry Simmonds September 1, 1977 August 31, 1987 RCMP Patrol Vessel Simmonds was named in his honour.
18. Norman Inkster September 1, 1987 June 24, 1994 RCMP Patrol Vessel Inkster was named in his honour.
19. Joseph Philip Robert Murray June 25, 1994 September 1, 2000
20. Giuliano Zaccardelli September 2, 2000 December 15, 2006
21. Beverley Busson December 15, 2006 July 16, 2007 Interim Commissioner; Busson was the RCMP's first female Commissioner.
22. William J. S. Elliott July 16, 2007 November 20, 2011 First civilian Commissioner.
23. Bob Paulson November 21, 2011 June 30, 2017
— Dan Dubeau June 30, 2017 April 16, 2018 Acting Commissioner; Dubeau served in the role at the rank of Deputy Commissioner.
24. Brenda Lucki April 16, 2018 Incumbent Current Commissioner; Lucki is the RCMP's first permanent female Commissioner.

References
  1. Meet Our Team Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Smith, Joanna (23 May 2012), "Royal visit 2012: Prince Charles collects honorary RCMP title", Toronto Star, retrieved 25 May 2012
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