Montreal’s municipal government announced on Wednesday that it has set aside $40 million to purchase and deploy body‑worn cameras for the Montreal Police Service. The allocation, made public at 08:00 GMT, is intended to fund the acquisition of the equipment and the associated rollout across the city’s police force.
The budget line earmarked for the program will cover the cost of the cameras themselves, storage solutions for the recorded footage, and training for officers on proper use. The city indicated that the funds are part of a broader effort to equip police officers with new technology.
City officials said the reservation of $40 million reflects a commitment to modernising police tools and ensuring that recordings of police‑public interactions are systematically captured. The Montreal Police Service is expected to develop a deployment schedule once the equipment is procured.
The announcement comes as part of the municipal government’s financial planning for the current fiscal period. By allocating the resources now, the city aims to move forward with the procurement process without delay. No specific timeline for full implementation was provided, but the funding is intended to support the complete rollout of the camera system.
The decision follows a period of public discussion about police transparency and accountability tools. While the city did not reference any particular incidents, it noted that the body‑camera program is designed to provide an objective record of police activity. The $40 million allocation represents the total amount the city has set aside for the initiative at this stage.
Montreal’s mayor’s office and the police service will coordinate the next steps, including selecting vendors, establishing data‑management protocols, and training officers. The city’s finance department will monitor the expenditure to ensure the funds are applied as designated.
The program is expected to become a permanent component of the police service’s operational equipment once fully deployed, adding a technological layer to existing policing practices in Montreal.