Royal Canadian Mounted Police allows Muslim officers to wear hijab

Muslim women can wear the hijab instead of Mountie headgear, a government spokesman said – a measure to encourage diversity and inclusion in the force.

Muslim women can wear the hijab instead of Mountie headgear, a government spokesman said – a measure to encourage diversity and inclusion in the force.

Canada’s national police force has permitted its women officers to wear the hijab.

The commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police recently approved the addition to the uniform to allow Muslim women to wear the hijab, public safety minister Ralph Goodale’s spokesman said Wednesday.

Scott Bardsley, public safety minister Ralph Goodale’s spokesman, said it is intended to better reflect the diversity of Canada.

Bardsley noted police services in the cities of Toronto and Edmonton and those across the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway, as well as some US states, have adopted similar policies.

“The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a progressive and inclusive police service that values and respects persons of all cultural and religious backgrounds,” Bardsley said in an email