According to a March 19 news release, the investment will include $679.4 million for the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety; $118.9 million for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA); and $8.8 million for the Saskatchewan Firearms Office (SFO).
“This year, the budget includes $260.0 million to fund RCMP operations in the province, including $23.7 million for the First Nations Policing Program,” states the release.
Also, Saskatchewan’s Municipal Police Grant program will see an increase of $330,000 to “help frontline officers respond to more calls for service and improve community safety.”
Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod said this budget “supports [the] government's priorities to deliver on community safety by enhancing law enforcement's presence in the province."
“We are providing officers with the right tools and resources to respond effectively and keep our communities safe,” said McLeod in a statement.
More money will also mean an “enhanced” presence of law enforcement at Saskatchewan’s U.S. border.
Back in January, the province announced its plan to strengthen security at the border in the wake of early tariff threats from U.S. president Donald Trump.
(Before winning the presidency — for a second time — Trump began his threats of imposing a 25 per cent tariff on goods if Canada did not stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the border.)
The area of public safety will see the hiring of around 100 new municipal police officers and additional Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods personnel. The funding will also mean 50 new officers under the Saskatchewan Marshals Service — a future initiative that will focus on gangs, illegal weapons, illicit drugs and the apprehension of “prolific and high-risk offenders and wanted individuals” posing a risk to public safety.
Also, the Saskatchewan Police College will get $1.6 million as part of the province’s three-year commitment to train more officers.
The government will be giving $11.7 million to support the opening of the new Saskatoon Correctional Centre expansion — being done in a bid to improve “overall safety for correctional staff, offenders and the public.”
New investments also include $1.1 million for the province’s Electronic Monitoring Program; $666,000 for six commercial vehicle weigh scale operators; and $835,000 for seven deputy sheriffs overseeing prisoner transport.
The SPSA will use the additional funding to buy “land-based airtanker aircraft.”
Money will also flow to the new Saskatchewan Ballistics Laboratory — slotted to open this fall.
“The ballistics lab will play a vital role in supporting firearms-related criminal investigations and help reduce the impact of illegal firearms and gun violence in the province,” McLeod said.
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