City of Surrey refuses to pay new SPS recruits: Union

The city of Surrey is refusing to pay the outstanding salaries to the newly recruited officers in the Surrey Police Service.

City says they have good reason to withhold wages but the Surrey Police Union is not accepting it. Union spokesman Ryan Buehring said they were shocked and upset by the decision.

The City of Surrey wrote a letter on December 19 and informed the Surrey Police Service about this. Buehring said the Surrey Police Union was told a few days before Christmas that the city of Surrey refused to include these new recruits in its payroll system.

The City of Surrey, on the other hand, said that the Surrey Police Service was already running ahead of its budget and was advised not to incur additional costs.

The Surrey Police Service's budget for 2023 was $48.7 million and they have exceeded that by about $23 million and are now closer to $75 million, according to city consultant Peter German.