Sask. budget includes millions to hire municipal police officers, marshals

A portion of Saskatchewan's $784-million policing and public safety budget for 2025-26 has been earmarked for about 100 provincially-funded city police officers and 50 positions for its yet-inactive provincial police force.

The Saskatchewan government unveiled its latest budget Wednesday. Premier Scott Moe said it addresses his core themes of health, education and public safety.

The safety portion was broken down into recovery and enforcement.

"At the very root of the challenges that we have in many, if not virtually all, Saskatchewan communities … is the poisonous drugs that we see coming into our communities," Moe said.

Saskatchewan has been moving toward adding 500 recovery beds and 500 police officers in recent years.

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan government announced:

• $8 million in increased funding for RCMP (totalling $261 million).
• $6 million, of a $12-million commitment, toward hiring about 100 municipal police officers.
• $3 million to hire 14 Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) personnel.

The municipal police officers were announced last fall, and are to be deployed in cities including in Estevan, Meadow Lake, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina, Weyburn and Yorkton.

"We are committed to funding the full 100 new officers as quickly as those municipalities are able to recruit them and onboard them," Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Tim McLeod said.

Rhonda Blackmore, the commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said some provincial dollars are going toward relieving RCMP of some of its responsibilities, like prisoner transports.

Blackmore said RCMP's child exploitation unit has seen historically high numbers. According to a January news release, RCMP's major crimes unit investigated 38 homicides with 40 victims last year, the "highest ever" in Saskatchewan RCMP history.

"Crime is continuing to escalate, crime is continuing to become more violent and we need to make sure we have the resources both from a human resource, but also that technology and ability," Blackmore said.

$4 million for marshals service hiring

The budget also features $4 million for hiring 50 Saskatchewan Marshals Service personnel.

McLeod said the service will have 70 officers plus support personnel. He anticipates 50 of the 70 officers will be active at the end of this fiscal year.

According to the most recent update, posted on the marshals service website in December 2024, the force is expected to be active by summer 2025.

"The reality is that we've not seen the boots on the ground that have been promised," Opposition NDP leader Carla Beck said Wednesday.

"We've seen them invest in more bureaucracy, sometimes in hats, but not actually delivering on actual boots on the ground: people in those positions providing that protection."

In October, the NDP criticized the Saskatchewan government for spending more than $41,000 on hats for the marshals service.