A new Treasury Board Crown corporation will now oversee 911 and emergency dispatching services in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency will report to the Minister of Government Relations.
“This new Crown will help meet the needs of our rapidly-growing province and current technology demands to ensure we can continue providing excellent emergency communications services for all Saskatchewan residents,” Government Relations Minister Larry Doke said in a press release.
“Under this new structure, governance will be streamlined and the province will be in a better position to meet future needs and expand emergency services accordingly.”
Since 2006, the province has been working with the City of Prince Albert to co-manage provincial emergency communication. According to the province, the SPSA’s first priority will be to work with the City of Prince Albert and other stakeholders to ensure the transition of 911 services is seamless.
The 911 emergency service fees are also being raised. The fee, which is applied to cell phones and landlines, will rise by $0.32 per month. The last increase was in 2010.
The province says in 2016, emergency dispatch centres received more than 340,000 calls.