The Saskatchewan Marshals Service (SMS) is a

provincial police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction ...

service with jurisdiction in the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. The SMS will reportedly focus its enforcement efforts on serious crime, such as drug and gang activity, while providing assistance to other police forces in Saskatchewan, including the

RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. Another area the SMS will focus on is agricultural crimes such as cattle theft and trespassing. Current plans suggest that it will be fully operational by late 2025, despite previous expectations being that it would not launch until 2026. Officers recruited in the SMS as known as Marshals.

History

On November 3, 2022, it was announced through a throne speech that the Saskatchewan Marshals Service will be established. By November 7, 2023, the

Government of Saskatchewan The Government of Saskatchewan () is the provincial government of the province of Saskatchewan. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" refers broadly to the cabinet of th ...

announced new legislation would be passed in order to legalize the existence of the SMS. ''The Police (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act, 2023'', which amends ''The Police Act, 1990'', specifically mentioned the SMS as a police service. The act received royal assent on March 19, 2024. On November 29, 2023, it was announced that Rob Cameron would head the SMS as its chief marshal. At the time of his appointment, Cameron was a deputy assistant minister of the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety (MCPPS). The ministry said it had received 12 applicants from across Canada for the position. On June 21, 2024, the SMS recruited Richard Lowen, formerly with the Winnipeg and Estevan Police Services, as the agency's Deputy Chief Marshal. In March 2025, it was announced that the agency's first regional headquarters will be established in the

North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The B ...

region, led by Inspector Tim Garland. The headquarters will open in the fall of 2025 and serve as a base to eleven sworn officers, in addition to civilian support staff. It was also reported in the same month that the SMS will start working alongside the Weyburn Police Service. On May 30, 2025, the SMS reported that Phase 2 of its integration and operations process by working alongside officers of the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS). The SMS reported that they will work with the PAPS in certain cases where sustained attention is required.

Recruitment

The agency's first officers were sworn in in March of 2025 and started their jobs the following May. From June 2025, the Marshals Service was recruiting individuals without prior policing experience, as well as experienced officers. New recruits must fulfil several entry requirements, such as being either a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, completion of a physical test, and completion of at least a Grade 12 education. New recruits will undergo basic training and field training with a total duration of 25 weeks. The entry-level salary for a recruit with no prior policing experience is roughly $96,000. Experienced officers can forgo the basic and field training and complete a fast-track programme, provided that they graduated from a police training programme that is recognized by the Saskatchewan Police Commission, and that they were employed as a police officer within the last three years. For experienced officers, the training programme takes seven weeks to complete and consists of in-service training, mandatory qualifications, as well as online coursework. The training focuses on firearms, tactical emergency casualty care, high risk vehicle stops and education on Indigenous culture. It is expected that the SMS will have 70 active duty officers by 2026.

Organization

The minister in charge of the MCPPS is responsible for appointing the SMS Chief Marshal.

Oversight

The SMS is held accountable for potential wrongdoings through the following: # Government of Saskatchewan through ''The Saskatchewan Police Act''. # The Minister’s SMS Advisory Council # Public Complaints Commission # Saskatchewan Police Commission # Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT)

Controversies

In August 2024, the National Police Federation launched a call to action urging the Government of Saskatchewan to pause funding for the Marshals Service. They claimed that the creation of the new agency would cost $14 million in start-up costs and that the government had failed to engage with its constituents before deciding to go ahead with the creation. Going forward, the National Police Federation estimates that the annual operation costs of the Marshals Service will be approximately $20 million. During the

2024 Saskatchewan general election The 2024 Saskatchewan general election was held on October 28, 2024, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. The incumbent Saskatchewan Party government, led by Premier Scott Moe since 2018, sought re-election to a fifth ...

campaign,

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (Saskatchewan NDP or Sask NDP), branded as the Saskatchewan New Democrats, is a social democratic political party in Saskatchewan, Canada. The party was founded in 1932 as the Farmer-Labour Group and was kno ...

leader

Carla Beck Carla Beck (born October 15, 1973) is a Canadian politician who has served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and Saskatchewan's Official Opposition since 2022. Beck was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan ...

promised to redirect funds from the newly created Marshals Service, instead using the money to hire 100 RCMP members and 100 municipal police officers. The NDP claimed that the government had spent more than $40,000 for less than 100

campaign hat A campaign hat, sometimes called campaign cover, is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners. The campaign hat is occasionally referred to as a Stetson, derived from its origin in the company ...

s, meaning that the cost per hat was $587. In March of 2025, the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party's house leader Nicole Sarauer expressed concern that new Marshals Service recruits had been "poached" from the RCMP and other municipal police forces. However, none of the service's first ten sworn officers had previously served with the RCMP with the exception of one ex-RCMP officer who is from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. In April of 2025, before the service began its operations, an officer of the Marshals Service was put on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Public Complaints Commission. It was reported that no further details on the complaint would be released while the investigation is still ongoing.

References