National Missing Children Services

QUICK FACTS

• There are seven categories of missing children: Stranger Abduction, Parental Abduction, Runaway Children, Accident, Wandered off, Unknown, and Other.
• In 2003, NMCS* assisted in the investigation of 142 Canadian cases involving 191 children.
• 54 per cent of the 2003 NMCS Canadian cases were classified as parental abductions.
• In Canadian cases, mothers (37 per cent) tended to abduct their children more often than fathers (17 per cent).

Overview

National Missing Children Services (NMCS) is the only Canadian missing children clearing house that provides information and assistance to police, non-profit agencies, and parents. NMCS is one of the many services offered by the RCMP’s National Police Services (NPS). Its primary objective is to locate, return and protect children.

In 2003, NMCS assisted national and international police agencies with 636 investigations. 56 per cent of these investigations were parental abduction incidents while 20 per cent were runaway incidents.

The service is linked to all Canadian police and related agencies through the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), U.S. police agencies through National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and most foreign police agencies through Interpol. While operating within the Interpol network, NMCS has established contacts with over 40 countries worldwide.

Mandate

NMCS has a two-fold mandate:

1. Operations co-ordinates national and international investigations by assisting law enforcement agencies with their investigations.
2. Research and Program Development conducts original studies scrutinizing case files. These studies are used to assist with investigations, to assist in the development of investigative response plans, and to determine the nature and the scope of missing children in Canada. A report on Canada’s missing children is written and published annually. The report is launched by government officials on National Missing Children’s Day, May 25th.

AMBER Alert

In 2004, the AMBER Alert was implemented across most of Canada. This alert is a voluntary national cooperation effort between police and local broadcasters to disseminate information about an abducted child as quickly as possible. The role of NMCS has been to provide a source of information to law enforcement agencies by coordinating and monitoring the implementation of this alert system.

The Our Missing Children Program

The Our Missing Children (OMC) Program is fundamental to the successful search for, recovery and return of a missing child to searching parent(s).

Investigations can become complex when multiple government agencies, or other countries become involved. OMC is the investigative and collaborative mechanism designed to coordinate the complexities of these investigations.

Five government departments and agencies work closely together on this program: RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Foreign Affairs Canada, and Justice Canada.