Bill SK-3 Safer Communities and Neighborhoods Act

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Status: Royal Assent — May 13, 2025. This bill is now law, coming into force by Order in Council.

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WHO GAINS POWER

  • The SCAN director gains authority to pursue Community Safety Orders against properties used for graffiti or storing and selling stolen goods — two new categories not previously covered
  • The SCAN director gains power to apply for rehabilitation orders — authorizing demolition of structures, restoration of properties and full cost recovery from owners
  • The SCAN director gains power to apply for forfeiture orders — allowing government to seize and take title to nuisance properties without a criminal conviction
  • Investigators gain authority to enter and inspect properties, take photographs, conduct tests and collect records
  • The director gains authority to collect personal information — including name, address, whereabouts and place of employment — from government institutions and local authorities without notice to the property owner
  • Courts gain discretion to terminate leases on nuisance properties under rehabilitation orders

⚠️ Order in Council coming into force — government decides when this Bill takes effect; no fixed date is set

WHO LOSES POWER

  • Property owners of nuisance properties — can lose their property through forfeiture without being convicted of a crime
  • Tenants — leases can be terminated by court order; government is not bound by any lease terms, penalties or obligations
  • Anyone who transfers a nuisance property after an application is filed — the new owner is automatically deemed a respondent and bound by any order
  • Judicial review is blocked — no court action can be commenced to prevent or review a rehabilitation or forfeiture order except through the appeal process

⚠️ Rights deemed waived by inaction — a respondent who fails to participate in proceedings without reasonable excuse is deemed to have waived their rights to the property

⚠️ Director and investigators cannot be compelled to testify — they cannot be required to give evidence or produce documents in any court or proceeding about information gathered under this Part

WHO GAINS MONEY

  • Saskatchewan provincial government — recovers full cost of demolition and restoration from property owners; those costs become an enforceable court judgment
  • Neighbours and communities — properties used for criminal activity, graffiti or stolen goods can be shut down or seized

WHO LOSES MONEY

  • Nuisance property owners — responsible for full cost of demolition and restoration; enforceable as a court judgment with no cap stated in the Bill
  • Mortgage holders and other registered interest holders — protected only if they acquired their interest before the application was filed and did everything reasonably possible to prevent the nuisance

⚠️ No cost cap stated — the Bill contains no limit on the demolition and restoration costs that can be recovered from a property owner

THE CATCH

⚠️ Forfeiture without criminal conviction — government can seize private property through a civil court process; no criminal charge or conviction is required

⚠️ "Nuisance property" is broadly defined — the court considers up to 14 listed factors plus any other factor it considers appropriate; the definition gives the director significant discretion in deciding what qualifies

⚠️ Tenants bear the consequences — leases can be terminated and government assumes no obligations to displaced tenants; no tenant protection provisions are included

⚠️ People living in nuisance properties are invisible in this Bill — there is no requirement to notify occupants, arrange alternative housing or connect displaced persons with social services before demolition or seizure proceeds

⚠️ Orders valid even if not served — a rehabilitation or forfeiture order is valid even if the director fails to serve it on the respondent or post it on the property

⚠️ Regulation-making powers expanded — new rules for nuisance property proceedings can be set by government without returning to the Legislature

⚠️ This Bill overrides The Residential Tenancies Act — where this Bill conflicts with tenant protection legislation, this Bill prevails

⚠️ Perverse incentive for landlords — because property owners bear the full financial cost of cleanup, the rational response is preemptive eviction of high-risk tenants; this Bill may accelerate displacement of vulnerable renters

⚠️ No cost recovery from tenants — when a tenant's behaviour causes a property to become a nuisance, the financial liability falls entirely on the property owner; the Bill contains no mechanism for owners to recover costs from the occupant responsible

[Source: Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly — Bill No. 3, The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Amendment Act, 2024, 30th Legislature, 1st Session; introduced by Hon. Tim McLeod, Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety]