Saskatoon Police See ‘Troubling Rise’ in Bear Spray Attacks With 7 Last Weekend

A man holds a can of pepper bear spray in a file photo. Saskatoon police say the use of bear spray for criminal purposes is on the rise. Valley Journal/Shutterstock

Saskatoon saw seven separate bear spray attacks over the Thanksgiving weekend, which police say reflects a growing trend in the use of the defensive tool as a weapon in local crime.

“The Saskatoon police has seen a troubling rise in bear spray related incidents throughout 2024,” a spokesperson for the Saskatoon Police Service told The Epoch Times. “We are often seeing them in assault with a weapon and robbery investigations.”

Police received reports of three bear spray attacks on Oct. 11, one one in the afternoon, one in the evening, and the last at 10:30 p.m., according to an Oct. 15 press release. The suspects in the second incident were two boys, aged 12 and 13, whom the victim chose not to charge.

The following day, police received two bear spray reports. The first was an attack on a city bus in which the suspect and the victim were believed to be unknown to each other. The second was a robbery an hour later in which the suspects used bear mace inside a business. The suspects fled the scene with stolen items.

On Oct. 14, police received another robbery report involving bear spray where suspects also fled with stolen items. Later that day, police were called for another incident on a city bus in which a man allegedly sprayed a group of females. Neither the suspect nor the victims were at the scene when police arrived.

Cases involving bear spray have increased since 2019, according to police data. The largest increase occurred from 2019 to 2020, when annual cases rose from 114 to 238. The rate then fell from 2020 to 2022, to 180 cases per year. In 2023 it reached a new peak, with 256 annual cases.

Police have recorded at least 200 cases this year, and say at the current rate it could reach 285 cases—a five-year high.

Bear Spray Regulations

Earlier this year, the Saskatchewan government introduced legislation to regulate the possession and use of bear spray in public urban spaces.

“Over the last few years, there have been thousands of public disturbances involving bear spray across the province,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre said in a March 12 release. “These new regulations will improve public safety and provide police and wildlife officers with more options to seize and charge people in possession of bear spray, including in shopping malls, movie theatres, urban parks and on exhibition grounds.”

Under the legislation, those caught illegally carrying bear spray, or who deface or alter the product’s packaging to conceal it, could face fines of up to $100,000.

Regulations do not apply in rural or northern areas where bear spray is used for safety purposes, officials said. Neither do they apply to retailers or those who use it for work or recreational purposes, including conservation officers and hikers.

The Saskatoon Police Service told The Epoch Times the legislation allows them to be “more proactive” in addressing bear spray misuse by way of ticketing. To date, nine of these tickets have been issued, police said.