The RCMP has finished a large training exercise meant to prepare Canadian and U.S. forces to respond to a weapon of mass destruction threat on Canadian soil.
The exercise, called “Vital Archer,” ran from March 23 to April 15 at several sites in both countries, the RCMP said.
Vital Archer began in 2013 as a tactical exercise between the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command and the U.S. military. It has since grown into a yearly event that brings together military, police, security and civilian partners from both countries.
The hands-on portion ran from April 13-15 on the Toronto waterfront, the Toronto Police Service said. The Toronto force said the drill was “not connected to any real-world threat” and was designed to strengthen co-ordination “in response to complex, high-risk incidents, including terrorism and other major security events.”
This was the first year a city police force took part. The RCMP said building strong ties between federal, provincial and municipal bodies “is critical to ensuring a robust response to public safety threats.” The Toronto Police Service was the municipal partner. The Ontario Provincial Police took part as a provincial partner.
Several groups led the ground work. They included the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Toronto Police Service. The RCMP said much of its hands on training took place at the old Hearn power plant, a decommissioned generator station on Toronto’s Port Lands and Mississippi Mills, west of Ottawa.
The Hearn plant stopped making power in 1983 and has since been used as a film and event space. The RCMP said large cities give agencies “real-world settings” to test how they would work together in places where they might one day have to respond.
Support came from a wide group of partners. Eleven federal agencies was involved, the RCMP said. This included the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency. The United States military also took part, but from within the U.S.
The RCMP said a broad range of its members joined the exercise. They included Emergency Response Teams, Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives teams, and staff from communications and intelligence.
The RCMP said the exercise is built around a “no fail national security scenario.” They said an event like the one practised would need a “whole government response” and a level of teamwork that is hard to train for. The force said the best way to improve its operations “is to learn by doing.”
The RCMP said Vital Archer gives all the agencies involved “from the municipal level upward,” a chance to prepare and to build the partnerships they would need in a real crisis.By Brook Wagner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on May 26, 2026 at 21:20
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