Government Relations Minister Larry Doke announced the creation of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency - a new Treasury Board Crown which will be responsible for managing Saskatchewan’s 911 emergency dispatching services.

"This new Crown will help meet the needs of our rapidly-growing province and current technology demands to ensure we can continue providing excellent emergency communications services for all Saskatchewan residents," Doke said. "Under this new structure, governance will be streamlined and the province will be in a better position to meet future needs and expand emergency services accordingly."

Since 2006, the province has co-managed provincial emergency communications services through a partnership with the City of Prince Albert.

The new Crown will report to the minister of government relations.

A new facility located near Prince Albert will serve as the provincial emergency communications centre for all areas except Regina and Saskatoon, which will retain their emergency dispatching centres and continue to report to government through the new Crown.

The 911 emergency service fees, which are applied to cellphone and landlines within the province, will be raised by $0.32 per month. This increase will take effect January 1, 2018. The 911 fees have not been adjusted since 2010, while the call-taking fees for landlines have not been increased since 2003.

In 2016, emergency dispatch centres across the province received more than 340,000 calls.