Under The Trespass to Property Amendment Regulations, 2025, activities such as public intoxication and drug use will now be automatically considered trespassing in public spaces or businesses.

The Government of Saskatchewan issued a news release Thursday saying the new regulations that have passed empower police to enforce trespass laws in businesses and public spaces such as libraries and parks.

The government says that means if someone is causing a public disturbance or threatening public safety, police won’t have to seek out further information from owners and/or the occupants of the location in question. Activities that fall under the umbrella of the Act which could lead to police involvement include public intoxication, use of a controlled substance, threatening to cause harm, causing damage to premises or personal property and public urination or defecation.

A joint statement was issued by the NDP’s shadow minister for Mental Health and Addictions, Betty Nippi-Albright and shadow minister for Justice, Nicole Sarauer saying that every dollar the Saskatchewan Party government puts into the Saskatchewan Marshals bureaucracy is money cut from local police services and frontline workers like the Saskatoon Fire Department. The NDP again pointed to the Fire Department responding to 935 overdose calls so far this year.

The statement concludes, “The whole reason that bus drivers and library workers are being forced to deal with drugs and addictions is because the Sask. Party is essentially defunding frontline services and local police.”

The first swearing in ceremony for the Saskatchewan Marshals Service is Thursday afternoon in Prince Albert. Saskatchewan Marshals Service provincial headquarters are in Prince Albert, with a regional headquarters in North Battleford.