The Saskatchewan government is providing funding for the establishment of a new commission to oversee outfitters in the province.
The Saskatchewan Outfitters Association will work to develop the commission, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Saskatchewan will also be partners.
Environment Minister Herb Cox says membership in the commission will be a requirement for all licensed outfitters in the province.
“The province will still be the regulator of the licenses,” he says. “But the commission will look after all other aspects of certain minimum standards of professional standards, those kinds of things, and there will now be a requirement for liability insurance, and public bonding.”
Cox says establishing minimum standards should ensure visitors to the province have a positive experience while they are here.
“I think this is absolutely going to be important for that,” he says. “And because it is industry-led and industry-controlled, they can control their members and say these are the required minimum standards that we expect to provide — whether its a fishing outfit or a hunting outfit, or whatever it may be.”
The initial $124,000 in provincial funding will be used to help phase in the new model over the next three years.
It is not known when the outfitting commission will be up and running, or how much membership will cost.
The new commission is expected to be one of the topics of discussion at the annual convention of the Saskatchewan Outfitters Association next month in Saskatoon.