B.C. courtrooms have continued to close due to a lack of sheriffs who say wages lagging behind other justice system professionals are causing service members to leave for better-paying jobs.
A Ministry of Attorney General spokesperson said that, between Nov. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023, there have been 16 instances where court did not proceed due to the absence of a sheriff. Months earlier, between Aug. 14 and Sept. 13, there were 31 instances.
It's the sheriff's job to maintain order in the courts, ensure the accused are making appearances on time, guard prisoners in cells and transport people from jails to court.
Concerns about the B.C. Sheriff Service and their working conditions, mental health and wages came to light in July 2023 with a report to the chief sheriff about problems that were causing deputies to seek greener pastures.
With sheriffs needed to assist in the running of courtrooms, that lead to closures across the province and delays in court cases.
Now, sheriffs say wage increases for judges, police and Crown prosecutors are a slap in the face to their work.
The raises
Attorney General Nikki Sharma confirmed Dec. 29 that provincial court judges would receive a 28.4 per cent salary increase over the next four years.
The province’s 131 full-time provincial court judges are now being paid $343,000, up from the $288,500 annual salary they had earned since April 1, 2022.
The bump in pay is retroactive to April 1, 2023, and the judges will also receive interest on that retroactive increase, the ministry said.
Crown counsel will also receive a 28.4 per cent increase over the next four years under their collective agreement, also announced in December. Senior Crown prosecutors are now making $291,000, an increase from $244,000 the previous year.
In November, Vancouver police officers voted 96.9 per cent to accept a tentative agreement reached with the police board and city that came with pay raises of 4.5 per cent retroactive in 2023 and another 4.5 per cent in 2024.
Ralph Kaisers, president of the Vancouver Police Union, said the deal would make Vancouver officers Canada’s highest paid.
A constable with five years on the job can expect to earn $116,000 in the first year of the new contract and see that salary increase to almost $122,000 in 2024.
In contrast, a deputy sheriff makes $67,729 to $77,012; a sergeant $73,856 to $84,135; and a staff sergeant $83,071 to $94,790, the report to the chief sheriff said.
The union representing the sheriffs says exit surveys in recent years indicate 80 per cent of sheriffs who leave the service point to wages as their number one reason for departing.
They've been promised incentive payments but those should be rethought, said Dean Purdy, vice-president of the sheriff and correctional services unit with the B.C. General Employees' Union. The incentive payment is $5,000, to be paid out twice per year to sheriffs and correctional officers with the first payment having been due July 1, 2023.
“Making the incentive permanent and evaluating its effectiveness on an ongoing basis is important to solving this problem,” he said. “The bottom line is that sheriffs must be paid a comparable market wage for their work, and the number one way to recruit and retain sheriffs is to increase their compensation.”
Ministry of Attorney General action
The ministry, meanwhile, says it's taking steps "to recruit and retrain more sheriffs."
"We’re already seeing early signs that our efforts are paying off. There are currently 508 fully trained sheriffs in B.C., with 33 new sheriffs joining the ranks in 2023,” the spokesperson said, noting there was a substantial increase of applicants since an August 2023 job posting.
“From that posting, 15 recruits are going through their sheriff recruitment training, started on Nov. 6, 2023.”
Recruits who successfully complete the training program will graduate on Feb. 2, 2024 and will join the B.C. Sheriff Service staffing complement as of March 4, 2024.
For those already working in the field, it’s not good enough, said Purdy.
“The recruitment and retention incentive payment, for example, has helped create a temporary increase, but workers can’t count on temporary bonuses to provide the real stability and compensation needed to address the recruitment and retention issues that exist,” Purdy told Glacier Media.
He said it’s important retention payments be made permanent and pensionable to assure applicants that it can’t be withdrawn in the future.
