Business owners in the downtown core will soon have another tool for addressing after-hours trespassing with a new pilot program.  

Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) provided statistics at the February 15 board meeting showing that calls and tickets for trespassing have increased in the past several years. 54 tickets were issued in 2021, growing to 108 in 2022, and getting up to 146 in 2023. A ticket for trespassing is a voluntary payment of $580. 

"Our charges have gone up – quite substantially. But that’s a lot about education with our members knowing the Act – and knowing what we’re able to ticket for, and what we’re able to arrest for,” explained Sergeant Ryan Lawrence with the Community and Strategic Services Unit of the Moose Jaw Police Service.  

In response to trespassing concerns, MJPS aims to launch a pilot project within the next several months called The Moose Jaw Trespass Prevention Program (MJTPP). It will be an opt-in program that will give commercial property owners or those leasing a commercial property a way to authorize MJPS to act as their representative when it comes to removing trespassers from private properties outside of business hours. 

Owners or those leasing commercial properties would sign an agreement to participate in the program, and MJPS would place stickers on entrances and exits to signify their participation.  

When officers see the sticker and spot a potential trespassing situation after business hours or at a vacant property, they would be able to act on the owner’s behalf, without a call for service needed to enforce the Trespass to Property Act. 

Police Chief Rick Bourassa clarified what the program does, pointing to people sleeping in bank vestibules as an example. “We’re not the owners in that case. Maybe the owners said ‘yes, you can sleep in here’. This would take a situation like that – the sticker’s on there – now we can act as the owners and say ‘you can’t be here – so let’s get you to a shelter someplace’.” 

MJPS doesn’t have any more authority with or without the sticker, but it would make the owner’s or occupier’s wishes more readily apparent to passing officers.  

Sergeant Lawrence said that the stickers themselves could also be a deterrent. “Once people realize that the program’s in effect, they’ll recognize the sticker and perhaps will proactively on their own not cause problems at a particular business.” 

He added that officers would take steps to determine why a trespasser is there and seek to get them shelter through local organizations as needed.  

Costs are expected to be low for MJPS and will be free for participants, including MJPS-supplied stickers and signage. If someone decides they no longer want to participate in the program, or if a property changes hands, they can let police know, and an officer will come to remove the stickers.  

After running the pilot program for 6 months to work out any issues and gather feedback, they would then look to grow the program beyond the downtown core.  

MJPS will be reaching out to owners who have previously cited concerns with trespassing to let them know about the program and are also looking to have an online signup option.  

Bourassa said that the planned program has been reviewed by MJPS legal counsel and Public Prosecutions. MJPS is looking to launch the pilot program around April.