Overview

• The Independent Agency Police Service has been formally created as a Crown corporation governed by a civilian oversight board and headquartered in Calgary.
• Former deputy Calgary police chief Sat Parhar has been appointed inaugural chief to assemble the agency’s leadership team and set professional standards.
• Municipalities can now choose to contract the new service for local policing, providing an alternative to RCMP detachments whose community contracts run until 2032.
• The province intends to transfer about 600 officers from its 1,200-strong Alberta Sheriffs unit into the new force, though precise staffing levels, funding and launch dates are still being determined.
• Critics including opposition parties and some municipal leaders have voiced concerns over the absence of broader public consultation and a delayed referendum promise.