The government of Saskatchewan has introduced new trespassing laws, changing how hunting on other people's land works.

As of January 1st, 2022, when these laws will take effect, hunters will require direct permission to be hunting on private land.

Previously, land that was not closed off, such as farmland, was considered open to hunters unless otherwise stated.

Now hunters will need permission to be on other's land, and the change also makes it easier for rural landowners to bring forward legal action.

MLA for Estevan and minister of social services Lori Carr talks about some of the motivations and surrounding amendments of this change.

"This is part of an ongoing effort to address rural crime," said Carr, "Additional amendments are being introduced to increase penalties for repeat offenders and make it easier for landowners or occupiers to seek damages against those trespassers."

Carr says that the committee that wrote up these changes was influenced by the experiences of farmers, who wished they had more recourse when someone hunted on their lands that they didn't want to.

"We actually did a committee a couple of years ago," said Carr, "We toured around the province and what we heard on rural crime was exactly this. They didn't feel like people who entered their land unlawfully when it was necessary for them to be able to act, they weren't able to do that to find the outcome that they wanted to press charges against people."

Despite the risk of a law like this causing more confrontations - and possibly injuries - Carr says she's sure most people will follow the new rule peacefully.

"I think the majority of people that are out there are the regular hunter that is out there or whatever it may be. This is just really targeting those bad actors that enter the land unlawfully," said Carr, "Having said that, the hunter will still have to get permission to go onto private land if they want to hunt on that land."