Nearly a fifth of Calgary's police force is on leave or accommodation — many of them with "physical or mental injuries" — but the service can't hire more officers to fill the gap because it doesn't have enough space or people to train them.
That's according to a memo the Calgary Police Commission sent to councillors ahead of the city's preview of the 2026 budget.
Of the 19 per cent of officers on leave or accommodation, six per cent are off the job and 13 per cent are working in different roles within the Calgary Police Service (CPS).
The head of Calgary's police union said the issue has been decades in the making.
John Orr said CPS is "chronically understaffed," leading to burnout. And with a reduction in stigma around mental health, many officers have come to realize they need to take a step back to take care of themselves, he said.
"Policing is a tough job," said Orr, president of the Calgary Police Association.
"It's a job where, over decades, our members are exposed to traumatic incidents, to a number of things. And then you add on top of that shift work and under-staffing to begin with. And sometimes people need to take a bit of a knee for a while until they get better."
John Orr is the president of the Calgary Police Association, the union that represents Calgary police officers. (CBC)Orr said even if those 19 per cent of officers were back at work and in their regular jobs, CPS would need almost 500 new officers to reach the national "cop-to-population" ratio.
The bottom line is CPS needs more officers, he said, and there is no other immediate solution to the problem.
"The only option that we really have is to lean heavily on the members who are here. And I can tell you, I have been so proud of the members who continue to show up every day."
'Navigating these ripple effects'The chair of the police commission said the number of staff on leave or accommodation are "significant" and higher than seen in the past, and that echoes trends across Canada.
"These officers do jobs that other people don't necessarily do on a daily basis, so they do cause an increase in physical and mental health injuries," said Amtul Siddiqui in an interview with CBC News.
"Our first priority is to ensure that we're taking care of these officers and our people to get them back to work in a timely manner where they're healthy."
Amtul Siddiqui is the chair of the Calgary Police Commission, an independent body that oversees the Calgary Police Service. (Helen Pike/CBC)Police Chief Katie McLellan said there are support systems for active members to ensure public safety isn't compromised.
"We recognize the importance of supporting our people through every stage of their career, especially when facing personal or medical challenges," she said in an emailed statement to CBC News.
"We are actively investing in our people and working to strengthen and evolve our processes, including navigating these ripple effects."
No capacity to hire, trainIn the memo, Siddiqui asked council for more money to hire staff who can help those officers return to work quicker, but it could be a while before additional officers are out on the beat. Siddiqui specified in the memo that the police service does not currently have the capacity to hire and train more officers than it's already asked for.
Council has approved funding for 21 net new officer roles next year, bringing the total of new recruits being trained in 2026 to 135, Siddiqui said.
"Our focus over the next 12 months is to work with the Calgary Police Service to increase training capacity and reduce the number of officers on leave through improved back-to-work supports," Siddiqui said in a statement.
WATCH | Safety a focus for Calgary municipal election, but police struggle to bring on new hires: Calgarians consider safety concerns to be a key issue for the upcoming municipal election. Already, some candidates are making promises to address this, with an eye to increasing police hires. In a municipal budget preview for 2026, the Calgary Police Commission sent a memo to councillors. The document made it clear the force currently lacks the capacity to train new hires, and that the rate of officers' injury and mental health leave needs to be addressed before asking for more personnel funding.The goal is to subsequently hire hundreds of new officers in the next budget cycle, Siddiqui said.
The city has earmarked $613 million for CPS in its proposed 2026 budget, up from $541 million this year.
The budget preview isn't final. It still needs to go to city council for debate and approval. Because of the looming municipal election on Oct. 20, that responsibility will fall on a new council this November.