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It may come as a bit of a shock for Saskatoon residents, but according to the latest records, the number of bear spray incidents in the first four months of 2026 are down compared with the same time in 2025.
Speaking on The Evan Bray show on Thursday, Cam McBride, Saskatoon’s police chief, said it’s not an issue that’s unique to the Bridge City. However, numbers in Saskatoon so far this year appear to be improving.
“Looking at the statistics in 2026, we are down significantly from 2025,” he told Bray.
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According to information provided by Saskatoon the police service, between Jan. 2026 and April 2026, there were 105 bear spray incidents. During the same time period in 2025, there were 177.
From May 1-15 this year, 12 bear spray incidents were reported. For the entire month of May in 2025, there were a total of 65 recorded.
McBride said he wants the community to be aware of what police are doing, and what the challenges are. At the same time, there is some progress being made.
“I think that’s a real good reflection of proactive work that we’ve been doing, both utilising new legislation, and keeping track of those who are repeat offenders, and making sure we’re on top of these individuals,” he said.
That includes following the repeat offenders from their arrest and charge, through their court appearances. The outcomes he said, may surprise people.
“I think it would be incredibly valuable for the community to have an understanding of what the end results are, when a charge is concluded at the court level,” McBride shared. “I think we would be shocked to know the outcome and we would question, ‘Well, is that an appropriate measure of accountability?'”
Sometimes he said, the end result is appropriate, and perhaps that could be communicated more often.
Nearly one year ago, the City of Saskatoon approved changing local bylaws on how bear spray is bought and sold.
The changes came after a formal request from McBride, who also wrote a letter to council, saying that the “misuse of wildlife control products has created a notable public safety concern for residents in public spaces in Saskatoon.”
McBride listed six requests, including a minimum age requirement of 18 years for both buyers and sellers, the purchaser would need to provide two pieces of identification, that wildlife control projects, including bear spray,y be stored safely and securely out of sight, among others.
According to a 2025 City of Saskatoon report, the number of bear spray incidents in the city nearly doubled between 2021 and 2024 and crimes committed by youths involving bear spray increased by more than 500 per cent during the same period.
The most recent information from police showed a total of 495 reports of people using bear spray in 2025, while so far for 2026, that number sits at 117.
