RCMP opening new forensic lab amid backlog concerns

The RCMP plans to open a new national crime lab this fall amid concerns a bottleneck of forensic requests is putting pressure on the justice system.

Bill Blair, minister of border security and organized crime reduction, made the announcement after touring the new facility in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday.

The Surrey location replaces the 45-year-old lab in Vancouver and will complement labs in Edmonton and Ottawa.

The force's National Forensic Laboratory Services operation (NFLS) receives forensic samples, including blood and urine, that require forensic toxicology analysis to hold up in court. The labs also review firearms and trace evidence for police forces across Canada.

During the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the three operating labs processed 17,154 forensic requests.

"The new facility has better space to allow for improved workflows, which will assist overall with more efficient processing of exhibits and casework related to criminal investigations," said Staff Sgt. Tania Vaughan.

The Surrey lab is expected to be fully operational this fall. Until then, the Edmonton and Ottawa locations will pitch in on requests.

Vaughan said submissions will be prioritized based on a number of factors, including whether a suspect is still at large or is a significant flight risk.

Canada used to have six labs, but in a bid to save money in 2012, the RCMP closed labs in Halifax, Winnipeg and Regina.

Since then, there has been criticism about delays.

Firearm turnaround times longer 

Courtrooms across the country have been more seized with delays since the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark Jordan decision in 2016 that set limits on the amount of time defendants should be expected to wait between getting charged and a trial. Since then, hundreds of criminal cases have been tossed due to unreasonable delays.

Earlier this year, police in Newfoundland and Labrador cited forensic lab cutbacks for delaying their investigation into an alleged drunk driver after a head-on crash.

The turnaround time for routine firearms requests has grown exponentially.  

In 2013-14, before three of the RCMP labs closed, the average turnaround time for a request was 56 days.

In 2017-18 fiscal year, the average wait for a routine firearms requests had more than quadrupled, to 238 days.

And the workload is expected to get worse. 

The force is anticipating their labs will be flooded with blood test requests over the next four years as Canada's new impaired driving laws mature.

When RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki took over the top job last year, she was warned those requests could increase 12-fold over the next four years.

The national lab service receives forensic service requests from across Canada — except from Ontario and Quebec, which run their own public forensic laboratories for provincial and municipal investigation.

The RCMP says the new lab will feature specialized workstations designed to fulfil lab operating requirements.