Three Ontario Regional Police Services Built a Shared Facial Recognition Database of 1.6 Million Images

On May 27, 2024, York Regional Police (YRP) and Peel Regional Police (PRP) jointly deployed IDEMIA facial recognition technology through a shared procurement partnership (CBC News, 2024; York Regional Police, 2024). The system allows officers to compare images of suspects or persons of interest against a shared mugshot database containing booking photos held by both services (CBC News, 2024; York Regional Police, 2024). IDEMIA, a French multinational biometrics company, was selected as the vendor.

In February 2025, Halton Regional Police Service awarded IDEMIA a $1.18 million, five-year contract ($362,764 for installation and first-year maintenance; $180,643 per year thereafter) (Biometric Update, 2025). The system went live for Halton in December 2025, expanding the shared database to approximately 1.6 million mugshots and tattoo images across all three services (Biometric Update, 2025).

The system automates what was previously a manual image comparison process. Officers submit images of suspects, which the IDEMIA software compares against the shared mugshot database using neural network-based facial recognition. All potential matches are treated as investigative leads — not confirmations of identity — and must be reviewed by trained facial recognition analysts (York Regional Police, 2024). The services state the system is not used for real-time surveillance, live video analysis, crowd monitoring, or scraping internet or social media images (York Regional Police, 2024).

The deployment was informed by guidance published by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) in January 2024, titled "Facial Recognition and Mugshot Databases: Guidance for Police in Ontario." The IPC guidance states that police must ensure lawful authority before deploying facial recognition, conduct Privacy Impact Assessments, limit use to serious crimes, regularly purge non-conviction records from mugshot databases, and maintain public transparency through regular audits and public reporting (Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, 2024). Both York and Peel stated they consulted with the IPC during implementation (CBC News, 2024). Peel Regional Police published a PIA summary document.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association raised strong objections (Canadian Civil Liberties Association, 2024). Director of fundamental freedoms Anaïs Bussières McNicoll stated: "Until there are clear and transparent policies and laws regulating the use of facial recognition technology in Canada, it should not be used by law enforcement agencies." Brenda McPhail, former director of the CCLA's Privacy, Technology and Surveillance Program, has stated that facial recognition technology "facilitates mass surveillance, is harmful to privacy, is also racially biased and feeds systemic racism in policing" (Canadian Civil Liberties Association, 2024).

CBC News reported in June 2024 that Nijeer Parks, a Black man in New Jersey, spent 10 days wrongfully jailed in 2019 after an alleged misidentification by IDEMIA facial recognition technology — the same vendor now deployed by York and Peel police (CBC News, 2024). According to the lawsuit filed by Parks, he was arrested for shoplifting and assault based on a false facial recognition match (CBC News, 2024). The charges were eventually dropped. This case received significant media attention in Ontario and raised questions about racial bias in the system now being used by Canadian police (CBC News, 2024).

Separately, Toronto Police Service published a request for proposals in December 2024 to upgrade its own existing facial recognition system (CBC News, 2024). Eleven vendors expressed interest, including IDEMIA, NEC Corporation of America, and Facia AI Ltd. The solicitation closed February 14, 2025.