[2] Appointment to the order recognizes conspicuous merit and exceptional service, the level of which is reflected by the organization's three hierarchical grades.

This prompted the solicitor general of Canada at the time, Herb Gray, to contact his provincial counterparts, inquiring of their reactions to such idea.

As consent from the provincial governments was unanimous in its approval, the society was set up and officially implemented when, on 3 October 2000, Queen Elizabeth II applied the royal sign-manual to her letters patent constituting the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

[7] Upon admission into the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, members are gifted various insignia of the organization, though these remain property of the Crown.

These insignia are worn with the order's ribbon, which is three bands of equal width, the outer two in blue and the centre one in golden.

Three terminations have occurred: Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Warren S. Gherasim, appointed to the order in 2006, was removed from the rolls in 2010 for receiving a disgraceful conduct sanction.