RCMP Heritage Centre

Every member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has trained at Depot Division in Regina since 1885, and the Heritage Centre stands on the base, in a building opened in 2007, designed by Nick Milkovich Architects with Arthur Erickson as design consultant. The collection covers the force from the 1873 march west through the North-West Resistance, the Klondike, the wartime years and modern policing, and it does not omit the force's role in enforcing the pass system and removing children to residential schools, which more recent redisplays have brought forward. The Sergeant Major's Parade, a drill inspection of cadets, is held on weekday mornings and is open to the public.

History

The force's first museum, the RCMP Centennial Museum, opened at Depot Division in Regina in 1933 and stayed open until October 2006; construction of the Heritage Centre to replace it began in 2005, and it opened on 23 May 2007 in a 6,000-square-metre building designed by Nick Milkovich Architects, with Arthur Erickson as design consultant (Wikipedia, RCMP Heritage Centre).

Highlights

• The Sergeant Major's Parade - a weekday cadet drill inspection open to visitors.
• The Milkovich and Erickson building - a 2007 museum building on the training base.
• The full force history - including its role in the pass system and residential schools.
• The chapel - the oldest building in Regina, on the base grounds.

When to go

May to September for the full programme including the Sunset Retreat ceremony in July and August; the parade runs on training weekdays year-round. The museum closes some Mondays in winter.

Good to know

The parade depends on the training schedule and does not run every day or in all weather. Access is onto an active police base with security screening. Photography is restricted in places.

Nearby

Regina centre lies east; Moose Jaw is west.

Key facts