List of Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners


Commissioner is the highest rank of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and of its predecessor agencies, the North-West Mounted Police and the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. The Commissioner reports directly to the Minister of Public Safety.
The Commissioner of the RCMP is the Principal Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces. He or she also serves as the Commissioner of Firearms under the Firearms Act.
The Canadian monarch is the honorary Commissioner-in-Chief and Charles, Prince of Wales, is the Honorary Commissioner of the RCMP. However, neither exercises a substantive role in the operation of the organization.

List of Commissioners

There have been 24 Commissioners since the founding of the NWMP in 1873:
and Queen Elizabeth II, RCMP Centennial Celebrations, Regina, 1973|alt=|149x149px
AgencyNumberNameTerm StartTerm EndNotes
North-West Mounted Police
1.W. Osborne SmithSeptember 25, 1873October 17, 1873First Commissioner of the NWMP.
North-West Mounted Police
2.George Arthur FrenchOctober 18, 1873July 21, 1876
North-West Mounted Police
3.James Farquharson MacLeodJuly 22, 1876October 31, 1880
North-West Mounted Police
4.Acheson Gosford IrvineNovember 1, 1880March 31, 1886
North-West Mounted Police
5.Lawrence William HerchmerApril 1, 1886July 31, 1900
North-West Mounted Police
6.Aylesworth Bowen PerryAugust 1, 1900March 31, 1923The NWMP merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the RCMP, thus Perry was the final Commissioner of the NWMP and the first Commissioner of the RCMP.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
6.Aylesworth Bowen PerryAugust 1, 1900March 31, 1923The NWMP merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the RCMP, thus Perry was the final Commissioner of the NWMP and the first Commissioner of the RCMP.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
7.Cortlandt StarnesApril 1, 1923July 31, 1931
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
8.Sir James Howden MacBrienAugust 1, 1931March 5, 1938
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
9.Stuart Taylor WoodMarch 6, 1938April 30, 1951
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
10.Leonard Hanson NicholsonMay 1, 1951March 31, 1959
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
11.Charles Edward Rivett-CarnacApril 1, 1959March 31, 1960
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
12.Clifford Walter HarvisonApril 1, 1960October 31, 1963
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
13.George Brinton McClellanNovember 1, 1963August 14, 1967
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
14.Malcolm Francis Aylesworth LindsayAugust 15, 1967September 30, 1969RCMP Patrol Vessel Lindsay was named in his honour.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
15.William Leonard HiggittOctober 1, 1969December 28, 1973RCMP Patrol Vessel Higgitt was named in his honour.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
16.Maurice Jean NadonJanuary 1, 1974August 31, 1977RCMP Patrol Vessel Nadon was named in his honour.
The present day RCMP National Headquarters building in Ottawa was named in his honour on October 05th, 2011.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
17.Robert Henry SimmondsSeptember 1, 1977August 31, 1987RCMP Patrol Vessel Simmonds was named in his honour.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
18.Norman InksterSeptember 1, 1987June 24, 1994RCMP Patrol Vessel Inkster was named in his honour.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
19.Joseph Philip Robert MurrayJune 25, 1994September 1, 2000
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
20.Giuliano ZaccardelliSeptember 2, 2000December 15, 2006
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
21.Beverley BussonDecember 15, 2006July 16, 2007Interim Commissioner; Busson was the RCMP's first female Commissioner.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
22.William J. S. ElliottJuly 16, 2007November 20, 2011First civilian Commissioner.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
23.Bob PaulsonNovember 21, 2011June 30, 2017
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
—Dan DubeauJune 30, 2017April 16, 2018Acting Commissioner; Dubeau served in the role at the rank of Deputy Commissioner.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
24.Brenda LuckiApril 16, 2018IncumbentCurrent Commissioner; Lucki is the RCMP's first permanent female Commissioner.