The Montreal police (SPVM) brotherhood is speaking out over what it says is a record number of resignations within its ranks.
Union head Yves Francoeur said officers are exhausted, overworked and underpaid, and that between 2017 and 2021 there was a 56 per cent increase in those accessing the employee assistance program.
He's worried for the mental and physical health of SPVM officers and feels that this is why there has been an unprecedented number of officers retiring or quitting.
"What the people are saying when they leave is there's too much pressure in Montreal," said Francoeur. "We have to do call after call, never have a break, never have the time to go to shopping mall and the metro to go get a relationship with merchants or citizens. The only thing that we do in Montreal is call after call."
He said 74 officers resigned last year, leaving the force with 45 fewer officers than there were in Jan. 2021.
The union is aware of more than 100 people in the process of being hired by the Surete du Quebec or the RCMP.
In addition, the new squads that were created to deal with gun violence in the city are positive, but they remove officers from the ground who aren't being replaced.
According to a CTV News analysis last September, the SPVM offers a starting salary of $42,000 for new officers, which is the lowest starting salary among major Canadian cities.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
