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Non-profit group takes over provincial 911 centre

Aug 2, 2018 | 2:00 PM

A non-profit organization has been selected to take over management of the Provincial Emergency Communications Centre.

The communications centre, located near Prince Albert, provides 911 services for the entire province with the exceptions of Regina and Saskatoon. On Wednesday, the province announced that CanOps, a Saskatchewan-based non-profit focused on public safety, will be taking over management of the centre after a public tendering process was held in the spring.

Duane McKay, Saskatchewan’s assistant deputy minister for public safety, said the centre was previously managed by the City of Prince Albert and Prince Albert Police. The management change will not affect staffing at the centre, he noted, and citizens calling 911 will not notice any changes in service.

“One of the conditions we insisted on in the process it went through was that all staff would remain with the organization,” McKay told paNOW. “Performance standards, funding models, budgets, all that stuff would still come back to the province to ensure that it’s meeting its requirements.”

In a statement accompanying the announcement, CanOps President John Saunders said he’s expecting a “seamless transition” which will not affect staff or service delivery.

“We are honoured to be selected to take on the management of this important and essential service for the province of Saskatchewan,” Saudners said. “Going forward, we will ensure that we maintain the excellence in levels of service and support that the community has come to expect.”

Statistics on 911 calls indicate a growing need for 911 services across Saskatchewan. According to the province, Saskatchewan 911 operators fielded 364,663 calls in 2017, up from 332,297 in 2016.

 

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