Saskatchewan seeking to strengthen highway safety, plan for growth

Provincial funding for Saskatchewan Highway Patrol increases to $8.5M in 2026-27, supporting five new officers and more commercial vehicle inspections.

The Government of Saskatchewan says it wants to beef up the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol (SHP) for more road safety and to accommodate the province’s planned growth.

The 2026-27 budget saw the province increase funding for the highway patrol from $7.8 million to $8.5 million.

In a Monday news release, the province said this will help expand SHP’s operational capacity and allow it to hire five more traffic officers.

“Keeping Saskatchewan strong, safe and secure means ensuring we have the right people and the right tools to deter unsafe driving and criminal activity on our highways,” said Community Safety Minister Michael Weger in a news release.

“This investment strengthens enforcement and supports the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol in protecting Saskatchewan families, communities and roadways.”

The release went on to say the $713,000 funding boost will help SHP disrupt organized crime, prevent the trafficking of illicit substances and recover lost tax revenue.

The province said it will accomplish this by conducting more patrols and more commercial vehicle inspections.

“This investment gives our officers the resources they need to do what they do best, protect Saskatchewan,” said SHP Superintendent Greg Park.

“With more enforcement capacity on our highways, we can ensure unsafe vehicles are removed from the road, respond faster to calls for assistance and disrupt criminal activity that tries to move through our province.”

The government says the provincial Protection Response Team will also benefit from the investment.

The PRT was formed in 2017, allowing the RCMP to request emergency help from the SHP, conservation officers and now the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.

With the new funds, the province says SHP will be able to respond to these service calls faster and more effectively collaborate in other joint operations.

Since 2022, the province said SHP has seized more than 78.3 million illicit cigarettes, usually transported through commercial trucking corridors.

In 2025-26, the province claims to have seized nearly 30 million unstamped illicit cigarettes, with an estimated street value of $15 million and a tax loss of $8.7 million.

Additionally, the province claims to have completed more than 8,000 commercial vehicle inspections resulting in just under 30 per cent of those vehicles being taken out of service due to mechanical defects.

SHP has also said it issued more than 4,000 tickets for commercial vehicle violations.