SaskatoonSaskatoon Police Chief Cam McBride says he’ll keep looking for savings. But he is still requesting a 9.3 per cent increase in next year’s police budget, followed by a 5.4 per cent increase in 2027.Police chief says more money needed to address increase in calls, assaultsPhil Tank · CBC News · Posted: Oct 18, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoSaskatoon police Chief Cam McBride is asking for a 9.3 per cent increase to the police budget for next year. (Thomas Simon/CBC)Saskatoon police Chief Cam McBride says he’ll keep looking for savings.But he is still requesting a 9.3 per cent increase in next year’s police budget, followed by a 5.4 per cent increase in 2027.The request presented at Thursday’s meeting of the board of police commissioners is down from estimates police gave the city in June for increases of 10.4 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively.At the meeting, Mayor Cynthia Block told McBride she appreciated his efforts to bring down the scale of the budget. “I’m curious as you’re thinking and ever refining, as we’re getting closer to budget, if you … have an opportunity yet in the next month to potentially do something further.”McBride replied that police are continuing to try to find further savings before city council’s budget talks at the end of November. Council will try to tackle a two-year budget with a 9.9 per cent preliminary property tax increase next year. The police board approved the budget McBride presented on Thursday. If council approves the police budget, the service would add 20 new positions next year and 29 more in 2027. Police added 34 officers this year, which were funded by the provincial government.But, even with all the new positions, McBride said Saskatoon would remain well below the Canadian average for police officers per capita.In 2023, Statistics Canada recorded a national average of 178.2 police officers per 100,000 people. Saskatoon lagged at 169.6 that year, before dropping to 161 last year. The number rose to 165.5 officers per 100,000 people this year.The number of officers compared to the population has mostly declined over the last decade, McBride said.Serious assaults nearly doubleThe police department has operated with an “efficient and lean” philosophy, but an increase in calls and an increase in violent crime is taking its toll, McBride said.“Having experienced it myself and seeing our staff go through it when they’re dealing with a significantly complex or frightening circumstance, they need time to decompress, and right now we just don’t have that,” McBride said.Saskatoon has dropped out of the top three metropolitan areas in the crime severity index, yet it still ranked seventh last year, he said.Assaults have increased in Saskatoon to 2,908 last year from 2,006 in 2018, according to police statistics — and serious assaults have nearly doubled during that period to 1,236 from 684.Police calls involving weapons have risen steadily over the last four years with incidents involving spray more than doubling to 367 last year from 180 in 2023.Total annual calls for police service have skyrocketed to an estimated 170,791 this year from 114,319 in 2018. That’s more than 468 calls per day.In dollars, the net police budget as proposed would increase by $12.2 million to $142.2 million next year and by $7.7 million to $150 million in 2027.Total staff in the police department would increase to 801 next year and 830 in 2027.In the wider picture, the police budget increases, if approved, would inflate property taxes on their own by 3.7 per cent next year and 2.2 per cent in 2027.The police board also approved the capital budget requests for $4.6 million next year and $3.9 million in 2027. Most of the capital spending goes to replacing equipment.
Saskatoon police request 9.3% budget increase that would drive up property taxes by 3.7%
