SASKATOON – The Saskatoon Police Service will house the Saskatchewan Firearms Ballistics Lab in SPs’s headquarters for the next two years.
The province signed a memorandum of agreement with SPS and will pay them $49,000 for improvements to SPS’s existing indoor shooting range, and additional monthly payments for office space, parking and utilities. The agreement took effect April 1 and lasts until Dec. 31, 2025.
"Setting up an advanced ballistics lab like this is a big undertaking," said Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Minister Christine Tell. "This partnership will allow us to get a head start and make use of the ballistics equipment the Firearms Office currently possesses, while also giving them the time they need to develop a more permanent facility to use once the agreement ends."
The provincial Ballistics Lab at SPS’s headquarters will house a variety of forensic ballistics equipment, including a BRASSTRAX acquisition station, which can be used to compare spent firearms cartridges and determine whether specific firearms have been used in a crime. The Lab will also be able to conduct firearms testing and tracing to determine the history of potentially illegal firearms, which is helpful in situations where firearms have been smuggled into Canada or have had their serial numbers altered.
"This agreement will significantly improve our ability to conduct important ballistics and firearms testing, which is currently being done by the federal government," said Tell. "By taking this on ourselves, we will be able to avoid the lengthy delays we are currently seeing for this important work."
The memorandum will also support closer working relationships with SPS and other Saskatchewan police agencies.
"The Saskatoon Police Service is pleased to assist with the development and implementation of a provincial Firearms Ballistics Lab," said Saskatoon Police Service Superintendent Patrick Nogier. "We continue to work with other law enforcement partners across the province to combine people, processes, and technology to solve and prevent gun-related crime."
This agreement with the Saskatoon Police Service is being funded through the approximately $927,000 that was allocated for the Saskatchewan Firearms Ballistics Lab in the 2023-24 provincial budget. In 2023-24, the province dedicated approximately $8.9 million to the Saskatchewan Firearms Office, which will also fund:
- a Central Management and Services unit to administer The Firearms Act in Saskatchewan, which includes jurisdiction over the licensing, storage, transportation and carrying of firearms ($2.2 million);
- a Firearms Compensation Committee to determine the fair market value of any firearms, ammunition and related accessories being expropriated by the federal government ($1.3 million); and enhanced education and training for safe storage and firearms licensing.
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