Canine Bureau

The objective of the Canine Bureau is to provide a support service to the Peel Regional Police to assist in locating lost, missing or wanted persons and the locating of evidence and narcotics.

The Peel Regional Police Canine Unit was developed and introduced in 1974. Presently there are 6 handlers and dogs. Teams are comprised of one handler and one General Purpose dog. Every handler is responsible for the care and maintenance of his canine partner. The dog goes home everyday with the handler and as such becomes part of the family.

The dogs are selected for their good health, temperament and trainability. The dogs are paired with a handler who has been selected based on being a first class constable, have a strong work ethic, and pass a physical fitness test.

The team is put through a 13 week training course to teach both the handler and the dog. They are taught obedience, agility, article search (property and evidence), area search, building search, handler protection and suspect apprehension. The Peel Regional Police currently use German Shepherds for all of their teams. These dogs have proven to be the best suited for general service police dog work throughout the world.

When the team completes the training course they are assigned to general patrol work throughout the region responding to a variety of calls including lost or wanted persons, property searches, break and enters, stolen vehicles and any calls in which a suspect has or may flee from police. The Canine Unit also provides support and works closely with the Tactical and Rescue Unit. After one year of general service work the team is trained for narcotic detection involving marijuana, hashish, cocaine, crack, and heroin.

The Canine Unit has over its years been responsible for locating hundreds of wanted and missing persons, locating thousands of pieces of critical evidence including firearms. The Peel Regional police Canine Unit is known throughout the province for its high standard of quality teams.