Yorkton city council is moving forward with changes to its Fire Bylaw that would set limits on how much property owners could be billed for firefighting costs in extraordinary situations.
The amendment introduces maximum charges of $5,000 for residential properties and $50,000 for commercial properties. Industrial and agricultural properties would remain uncapped.
Mayor Aaron Kienle says the keyword is extraordinary.
“On a typical fire where we get our four firefighters and a truck out there, that’s just a normal fire. There are no additional fees. There’s no charges,” he explained. “But in cases where there’s a second truck, overtime, or when we bring in help from neighbouring departments, the City pays for that. This is just to recover a bit of those costs.”
“There was an example given where a shift change happens and four new firefighters arrive, but they’re still just with that one truck. That’s not extraordinary,” Kienle added. “But if we pull in Melville firefighters or have to staff a second truck, that’s when the fees apply.”
The change comes after the fire service charge was first introduced in September 2024, when the council passed a bylaw allowing the City to charge for firefighting services that went beyond standard operations. The mayor confirmed the bylaw has already been used once in the past year for such a case.
Since then, at an August 2025 Committee of the Whole meeting and again in September, council directed administration to revisit the policy and present a clearer framework.
Kienle says that by putting a cap in place allows residents and businesses to know how much insurance coverage they should have.
“Knowing there’s a cap, you just buy that level of insurance and you’re good,” Kienle said. “If there isn’t a cap, then one business might buy $100,000 of coverage, another might go up to $200,000 and that drives costs up.”
Residents and members of the council raised concerns about whether the new system could lead to higher premiums.
According to the city administration, most residential and commercial insurance policies already include coverage for fire department charges — often set at $5,000 for homes and much higher for businesses. In many cases, this coverage cannot be removed even if a policyholder wanted to.
“For residential, most people already have a $5,000 provision in their policy,” Kienle explained. “For one of my businesses, I never asked for it, but I have a $50,000 provision. The other I don’t, but to increase it would cost about $50 based on the examples we were shown. It’s not onerous.”
Insurance companies calculate premiums based on regional and national risk data, not on policies in individual municipalities. That means Yorkton’s bylaw will not drive up rates locally.
The City also received confirmation from SGI, through local brokers, that the presence of a fire charge bylaw does not impact how property insurance premiums are set.
Kienle added that the bylaw aims to strike a balance between protecting residents and ensuring the City can continue to deliver high-quality fire services.
“This is just to recover costs from extraordinary fires,” Kienle said. “For the average homeowner, nothing changes. Your insurance will cover it. And for the City, it means we can keep our fire services strong without putting the burden back on taxpayers.”
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