Manitoba news: Steinbach wants its own Community Safety Officers, and Manitoba’s justice minister is listening. Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen pressed the case at a legislative committee last week, arguing that growing communities in southeastern Manitoba need local officers who can handle bylaws and lower level provincial offences so the RCMP can focus on serious crime.
Community Safety Officers are municipal officers who are not RCMP but can enforce local bylaws and some provincial laws. The program runs today only as a pilot in Thompson. Steinbach and Hanover want to join it, and Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh says he will meet with municipalities in the weeks ahead to talk about expanding it.
By Maplestime News Desk | Winnipeg, Manitoba | November 12, 2026
Sources: mySteinbach | Last updated: November 12, 2026
Key Takeaways
- The Community Safety Officer program runs today only in Thompson, as a provincial pilot.
- Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen asked Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh to open the program to municipalities like Steinbach and Hanover.
- Community Safety Officers would enforce bylaws and some provincial laws, in a role similar to Winnipeg Police Service cadets.
- Goertzen says the change would free RCMP officers to investigate illegal drugs and serious crime.
- Mackintosh called the concern significant and promised to meet municipalities, including Steinbach, in the weeks ahead.
What would Community Safety Officers do in Steinbach?
Community Safety Officers are not police officers. They are municipal hires who take on bylaw enforcement and some provincial offences, the kind of work that now falls to RCMP officers in rural Manitoba. Goertzen told the committee the model would work much like the cadet program with the Winnipeg Police Service, with local officers handling routine enforcement while sworn police focus on investigations and preventative policing.
Goertzen put it plainly at committee: the officers “would allow rural police forces to concentrate more time on investigating crime and preventative policing.” That is the core of Steinbach’s pitch. The town is growing, its policing bill is growing with it, and the RCMP detachment covers a large area. Every hour an RCMP officer spends on a bylaw call is an hour not spent on a criminal file. The Community Safety Officers would answer to the municipality, not to the RCMP, and their work would stay within the bylaws and provincial offences the province allows.
Why does Steinbach say it needs them now?
Goertzen pointed to two pressures. The first is cost. Growing communities face rising policing bills, and a lower cost local officer for routine work would stretch those dollars further. The second is time. He told the committee that RCMP officers can spend hours with a person taken into care under the Mental Health Act, waiting before the person can be handed to medical professionals. While they wait, they are off the road and unavailable for other calls.
Freeing RCMP time matters most, in Goertzen’s argument, for illegal drugs. If local officers pick up bylaw and lower level work, RCMP investigators get more hours for drug files and serious crime. That trade is the heart of the request, and it is why Hanover is named alongside Steinbach. Both are growing rural municipalities policed by the RCMP, and both face the same squeeze.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment in Grise Fiord, Nunavut. Photo: Timkal, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What happens next?
Mackintosh did not say yes on the spot, but he did not close the door either. According to mySteinbach, the justice minister acknowledged the concern as significant, said Community Safety Officers could be used in communities like Steinbach, and noted that other alternatives are also being looked at. He committed to meet municipalities, including Steinbach, in the weeks ahead to discuss expanding the program.
Goertzen hopes the option can move quickly for communities that show a clear need and a clear interest. No date has been set for a decision, and no timeline was given at committee. For now, Steinbach’s case rests on the meetings ahead, and on whether the province is willing to take a pilot that works in Thompson and offer it to the rest of rural Manitoba.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Community Safety Officer?
A Community Safety Officer is a municipal officer who is not RCMP but can enforce local bylaws and some provincial laws. The role is meant to sit alongside police, not replace them, so sworn officers can spend more time on investigations and preventative policing.
Where does the Community Safety Officers program run today?
The Community Safety Officers program runs only in Thompson, as a provincial pilot. Steinbach and Hanover cannot apply under the current rules, which is what Goertzen asked the justice minister to change.
When will Steinbach get an answer?
Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh said he will meet municipalities, including Steinbach, in the weeks ahead to discuss expanding the program. No decision date has been announced.
Main Street in Steinbach, with the Millennium Clock Tower, Stony Brook and the post office in winter. Photo: Krazytea, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Maplestime will provide updates from community safety in southeastern Manitoba as announcements are made.
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