RCMP: We attach great importance to our partnership with Morocco in addressing security challenges

Following Canada’s new position on the Moroccan Sahara issue, and its recognition of Morocco’s autonomy plan as “a basis for a mutually acceptable solution” and as a “serious and credible initiative” toward a just and lasting settlement of the dispute, Canada’s official statement of April 28 also emphasized the renewal of bilateral relations with Morocco on the basis of “mutual respect,” “constructive dialogue” and “openness.”

In this context, security and policing cooperation emerges as one of the practical areas that can give concrete substance to the rapprochement between Rabat and Ottawa.

The prospect of a new phase in Moroccan-Canadian relations does not stop at the political and diplomatic dimension. It also extends to security issues, the fight against transnational crime, and police and judicial cooperation, particularly amid rapid changes in the nature of threats that no longer recognize traditional borders between states.

In this context, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, known by the acronym RCMP/GRC, stated in written responses received exclusively by Hespress following a journalistic request on the future of security and policing cooperation between Morocco and Canada that it attaches “great importance” to its relations with Moroccan partners, such as the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST).

It indicated that these partnerships are based on a “long tradition of fruitful cooperation” and on a shared interest in responding to continuously evolving security challenges. The RCMP stated that its liaison officers are assigned to various strategic locations around the world, including Rabat, in order to support the Canadian institution’s mandate in combating transnational crime.

It explained that these officers, in partnership with law enforcement agencies, governments and Canadian embassies abroad, maintain links between Canadian law enforcement agencies and their counterparts in the countries where they are posted.

In outlining the objectives of its international work, the RCMP explained that it works closely with foreign authorities on major or sensitive operational files, assists foreign agencies in investigations of interest to Canada, and establishes and ensures the exchange of information concerning crime and security with recognized organizations abroad.

Regarding cooperation with Morocco, the RCMP said it maintains a continuing interest in strengthening its cooperation with its partners, such as the General Directorate of National Security and the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance.

It also noted that, over the years, cooperation between Canadian police authorities and Moroccan police authorities has taken place in the areas of counterterrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud and economic crimes.

The RCMP stressed that “crime has no borders,” adding that its constant objective is to improve and strengthen its relations with international partners, including Morocco. It also indicated that close cooperation and the strengthening of relations between the RCMP and its Moroccan partners, such as the General Directorate of National Security and the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, enable both Canada and Morocco to address their security interests and common crime files.

The RCMP also affirmed that it remains determined to work with its partners to address shared threats such as transnational crime, terrorism and other serious forms of crime, while adapting cooperation to the evolving security landscape.

On the legal and judicial level, the RCMP noted that possible differences between Canadian and Moroccan laws can sometimes affect the scope of cooperation and create situations in which cooperation becomes difficult, or in which the expectations of one party are not met. In this context, it explained that it seeks to understand and appreciate the laws and expectations of the other partner, while having the duty to ensure that Canadian laws are applied and respected.

In the same clarifications, the RCMP stated that strengthening cooperation is not necessarily limited to specific structures or frameworks, but rather relies on continuous dialogue and engagement. It considered that this approach allows legal and judicial considerations to be taken into account, supports appropriate information sharing and helps improve coordination, while
respecting each country’s legal systems and operational realities.

This point highlights the legal and judicial dimension as one of the keys to the future development of Moroccan-Canadian cooperation. Differences between states’ legal systems do not undermine the need for cooperation, but they do require greater clarity in channels and procedures, especially when it comes to transnational crimes that move quickly across multiple jurisdictions and may sometimes benefit from procedural delays or differences in the legal classification of acts from one country to another.

This issue becomes even more important with the evolution of new forms of crime, particularly those with a digital dimension. Some illegal practices no longer always appear in their direct form. They may operate through ambiguous or fictitious fronts, while their substance involves the exploitation of personal data, violations of privacy, threats, extortion, or harm caused to individuals and institutions from outside national borders. In such files, legal classification and judicial cooperation become two decisive elements.

From this perspective, the future of cooperation between Morocco and Canada is not limited to information sharing or police coordination in traditional files. It also raises the need for clearer and more effective judicial cooperation, allowing mutual requests to be handled, victims to be protected, and criminal activities moving across different legal spaces to be pursued without
losing their criminal nature because of differences between legal systems or procedures.

This need concerns both parties. Morocco has a direct interest in strengthening the effectiveness of tracking transnational crimes that target its citizens, institutions or vital interests. Canada, for its part, is also concerned with preventing the use of its territory or digital space for criminal activities with external reach, and with ensuring that legal or procedural differences do not become gaps exploited by criminal networks or actors operating outside legal frameworks.

The cooperation described by the RCMP concerns serious and direct files, ranging from terrorism to organized crime, and from drug trafficking to fraud and economic crimes. Such files require, by their nature, regulated information sharing, institutional trust and coordination that respects the national laws of each party, while preserving the operational capacity to confront threats that do not stop at borders.

In light of the official discourse on a new phase between Rabat and Ottawa, security and policing cooperation appears to be one of the areas capable of giving practical substance to this rapprochement, especially if accompanied by further development of legal and judicial coordination channels. Such development would allow for a more effective response to emerging forms of crime, while preserving respect for the rule of law and the specific features of both countries’ legal systems.