City’s Traffic Safety Court held first sitting in new courtroom last month
The Saskatchewan government and the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan have announced the completion of renovations to the Moose Jaw Court House, which now features a new courtroom on the main floor for traffic safety and drug treatment matters.
Specifically, according to the provincial government’s news release, the new courtroom offers an upgraded space for Traffic Safety Court sittings, as well as the Drug Treatment Program and Drug Treatment Court docket proceedings.
“Moving court to a main floor space creates better access to justice with updated technology, accessibility and modern service enhancements,” said Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan’s justice minister and attorney general, in the news release.
The Traffic Safety Court in Moose Jaw conducted its first sitting in the new courtroom on Nov. 4.
“This additional courtroom in Moose Jaw will help ensure that the Court can provide timely, effective and accessible service to the public,” said Shannon Metivier, chief judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan, in the news release.
In total, the renovation project cost approximately $460,000.
“Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, we can more efficiently deliver justice services to residents of Moose Jaw and surrounding areas,” McLeod said.
“I am grateful for the commitment to strengthening the infrastructure that supports the growing needs of the Provincial Court,” Metivier added.
More on traffic and drug courts
In February 2023, Moose Jaw shifted to a stand-alone Traffic Safety Court. Since then, it has conducted traffic safety proceedings in a temporary space in the W. G. Davies Building’s basement courtroom. In the past two and a half years, renovations sought to transfer services to the main floor.
According to Saskatchewan’s news release, the Traffic Safety Court primarily deals with provincial traffic offences, such as speeding and other Traffic Safety Act breaches, and liquor and wildlife violations.
Meanwhile, the Drug Treatment Courts offer an alternative, multi-phased approach for offenders experiencing an addiction and facing drug and other charges. The program tracks and measures compliance for the transition, stabilization, and maintenance phases, including minimum clean time and minimum time without reoffending.
Investments in justice
In its news release, Saskatchewan shared that the 2025–26 budget for its justice services includes $665,000 in support of expanding the Traffic Safety Courts and $447,000 committed to developing municipal bylaw court hubs, which seek to streamline municipal bylaw enforcement.
The provincial government added that the budget also includes $3.38 million for the court modernization project’s continuing efforts to improve courtrooms with modernized technology and infrastructure and implement the judicial scheduling, tracking, and amalgamated reporting system.
In July, the Canadian government announced that it would provide a maximum of $850,000 per year via the federal justice department’s Drug Treatment Court funding program to support the Saskatchewan government in operating Drug Treatment Courts.
Launched in 2023, Justice Canada’s funding program enabled the expansion of the Drug Treatment Courts beyond those in Regina and Moose Jaw.
