Battlefords to get second police and mental health crisis team in push for 24-hour coverage

He said the additional funding would improve coverage and expressed hope it would help achieve that goal. Logistics still need to be worked out, and a start date is yet to be determined.

The teams will be available throughout the detachment’s service area, including North Battleford, Battleford and surrounding First Nations communities.

“Sometimes it’s three in the morning, and we need to make sure that we have the resources there,” Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said of the need to respond to crises outside daytime hours.

Cockrill, who is also the Battlefords MLA, linked the expansion to the planned rollout of compassionate intervention in the Battlefords in early 2027.

He said PACT would be one referral pathway into that program, with regulations explaining the process still forthcoming.

When explaining that connection, he referred to people with significant substance use disorders, people who are a danger to themselves or others and people who can no longer make their own health-care decisions.

Cockrill said the team could connect people with other supports as well as refer those who are candidates for compassionate intervention. He pointed to inpatient treatment, sober living spaces and community organizations as examples of supports available locally.

The PACT program has operated in North Battleford since 2018, Cockrill said.

(Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

According to the province, the existing team participated in 289 interventions between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026. The government credits it with diverting 227 clients from emergency department visits and 217 from arrest during that period.

How said having health professionals involved helps police navigate the health-care system and connect people with appropriate care.

“PACT has significantly reduced the amount of time our officers spend waiting in hospitals for mental health assessments. That means our officers can return to frontline policing duty sooner and be available to respond for calls for service throughout the area,” he said.

Community Safety Minister Michael Weger said diverting people from emergency rooms and police cells produces cost savings, but he did not provide a dollar estimate.

“It’s maybe hard to calculate that, but the statistics I shared when you’re talking about diverting over 15,000 people in North Battleford, over 200 from cells or from the emergency room, there’s cost savings there. There is no doubt about it,” Weger noted.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority said the model allows clinicians to provide mental health care and help people navigate services at home or elsewhere in the community, with police present for safety. Clients are involved in decisions about their care, the authority said.

North Battleford Mayor Kelli Hawtin said she and Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie identified PACT expansion as a joint advocacy priority early in their current terms and raised it with provincial cabinet ministers.

She said the city’s community safety and well-being plan recognizes that mental health, addictions and housing affect community safety.

“We don’t need more people in prisons. We need the right people in prisons,” Hawtin said.

“I think that this type of announcement, it’s really speaking to that innovative solution in policing that we talk about here in the city of North Battleford.”

Leslie said efforts to expand the team stretched back years and involved discussions with four ministers.

Cockrill said the additional funding is shared by the ministries of Health and Community Safety.

Including the new funding, the province is providing $4.2 million for PACT in 2026-27. Seven communities have provincially funded teams: Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Yorkton and Estevan.

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

Battlefords to get second police and mental health crisis team in push for 24-hour coverage

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