MOOSE JAW — New Saskatchewan RCMP statistics show crime remained high in 2025, with rising calls for service, more severe violent offences and mounting pressure on frontline officers.
The report, released by the RCMP, shows officers responded to 422,274 calls for service in 2025 — a 15 per cent increase from the previous year and 58 per cent higher than a decade ago. It also highlights long-term increases in violent crime, firearm offences, emergency response deployments and motor vehicle thefts.
Hugh Gordon, Saskatchewan NDP MLA for Saskatoon Silverspring and the Opposition’s associate shadow minister for community safety, said the statistics paint a troubling picture of crime trends across the province.
“I don’t think I can really highlight any one thing that stands out the most. I think all of this is really shocking, to be frank,” said Gordon, a former RCMP officer who served 24 years in Saskatchewan.
Among the figures Gordon highlighted were the sharp increase in calls for service, the nearly 70 per cent rise in assaults involving weapons or causing bodily harm over the past decade, 13,445 assaults recorded in 2025 — averaging 37 per day — the continued growth in firearm offences and rising assaults against police officers.
Statistics Canada data released earlier this month showed Saskatchewan recorded the highest Crime Severity Index among the provinces in 2025, at nearly double the national average. Gordon said the RCMP report reinforces those broader crime trends.
“This report from the RCMP only confirms what we knew to be the case,” he said.
The report notes there were approximately 5,600 more victims of reported violent crime in 2025 than a decade earlier, with offences becoming increasingly severe. Assaults accounted for 62 per cent of violent crime in 2025, while 26 per cent of violent crime involved intimate partner violence.
The report also found that 43 per cent of people accused of homicide in 2025 were under court-ordered conditions — including bail, probation, parole or statutory release — at the time of the alleged offence.
Violent firearm offences have also risen dramatically, increasing 296 per cent since 2016. Saskatchewan RCMP reported 523 violent firearm offences in 2025, while the province continued to record the highest rate of violent firearm offences in Canada.
Emergency Response Team deployments climbed from 36 in 2016 to 114 last year, while motor vehicle thefts increased 24 per cent over the same period, with trucks remaining the most commonly stolen vehicles.
Drawing on his policing experience, Gordon said many of the underlying causes extend beyond law enforcement.
“I remember being a frontline police officer — you’re working with people who are dealing with socio-economic issues,” he said. “Maybe they don’t have a home. Maybe they’re dealing with mental health or … an addiction issue.”
He argued police are increasingly responding to situations that require broader social supports.
“We shouldn’t be the first point of contact,” Gordon said. “We’re seeing more and more often our police forces … have to deal with a lot of these socio-economic issues that are at the root of what’s causing the increase in crime.”
He argued that strengthening mental health, addictions and homelessness services would reduce the number of crises requiring a police response.
The RCMP report also found Saskatchewan’s Operational Communications Centre handled an average of 13 Priority 1 emergency calls every day over the past decade, while property crime investigations have increased by approximately 5,700 annually compared with 10 years ago.
Gordon said officers are increasingly being forced to triage calls, making difficult decisions about which incidents require the most immediate response.
“We have more calls for service than we have [officers],” he said. “We’ve got police officers who are working tirelessly day or night with little to no time off. They have little to no family life. The work-life balance is out of whack.”
Gordon said greater investment in mental health, addictions treatment and homelessness services would help reduce the number of crises requiring police to respond, allowing officers to spend more time on proactive policing instead of continually responding to emergencies.
The full statistical report is available at RCMP.ca.
