François Bidal
RCMP Assistant Commissioner (Retired) Vice Chair
Assistant Commissioner François Bidal joined the RCMP in 1986 and served in various capacities including general duty and investigative policing, drug enforcement and commercial crime. He taught post-secondary-level police sciences, instructed law and applied police sciences at the RCMP’s Depot Division, and occupied the role of the Director of the Police Sciences School at the Canadian Police College. He was commissioned to the executive officer rank in 2002. Four years later, he was appointed to the position of Director General, Canadian Firearms Program, where he led the transition of the structure and mandate of the CFP from a standalone agency to a National Police Services program within the RCMP. Just two years after that, he assumed the role of Director General of the newly-created Information Interoperability Directorate.
In 2010, he was appointed to the position of Commanding Officer of “A” Division (now National Division), a model of excellence in the delivery of federal policing services and specializes in sensitive and complex investigations, both nationally and internationally. In 2012, he was appointed Assistant Commissioner of Forensic Sciences and Identification Services. In this capacity, he was responsible for overseeing the provision of quality investigative support services through a wide range of forensic programs to clients both in Canada and internationally.
In April 2017, was appointed to the position of Chief Information Officer for the RCMP, which was followed by a one-year acting appointment as Deputy Commissioner of Specialized Policing Services. This included responsibility of RCMP Technical Operations, Forensic Sciences, as well as the Canadian Firearms Program, the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada, and the Canadian Police College. Before his retirement in early 2019, he acted as a senior advisor to the Commissioner to help advance her modernization mandate during a period of significant transition.
François holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology and Psychology from the University of Ottawa, has completed a Police Leadership Certificate from Dalhousie University and is a graduate of the Queen’s University Public Executive Management Program. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals, as well as the RCMP Long-Service Medal.