History of the divisions
Our use of the word divisions started with the North-West Mounted Police in 1874. That's when the first 300 members gathered at Lower Fort Garry, Manitoba.
The organization divided the members into 6 troops from A to F. To help tell them apart during the March West, each troop had horses of a different colour:
- A Troop: Dark bay
- B Troop: Dark brown
- C Troop: Light chestnut
- D Troop: Grey
- E Troop: Black
- F Troop: Light bay
As the troops set out across the prairies to set up new posts, they continued to use these letters. These posts later became divisions, with the smaller outposts known as detachments.
We continue to use the terms division and detachment today. For example, Surrey Detachment is located in E Division (British Columbia).
As our organization grew and members moved across the country, our commissioners continued to assign letters to divisions. Some of these letters are no longer in use and some headquarters have since moved. But today, we have 15 divisions, along with National Headquarters.
Marine and Air Divisions, as well as the Security Service, had divisional status but were not assigned letters.
Division | Location | Key dates | Current headquarters |
---|---|---|---|
National (formerly A) | Ottawa, ON |
|
Ottawa |
HQ | Ottawa, ON |
|
Not applicable |
B | Newfoundland and Labrador |
|
St. John's |
C | Quebec |
|
Montreal |
D | Manitoba |
|
Winnipeg |
Depot | Regina, SK |
Did you know? In the British Army, regiments had "regimental depots," which was the regiment's home base for recruiting and training.
|
Regina |
E | British Columbia |
|
Surrey |
F | Saskatchewan |
|
Regina |
G | Northwest Territories |
|
Yellowknife |
H | Nova Scotia |
|
Halifax |
J | New Brunswick |
|
Fredericton |
K | Alberta |
|
Edmonton |
L | Prince Edward Island |
|
Charlottetown |
M | Yukon |
|
Whitehorse |
N | Ottawa, ON |
|
Not applicable |
O | Ontario |
|
London |
V | Nunavut |
|
Iqaluit |
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