Amendments to an Act aimed at locating missing persons will now give law enforcement access to more personal information and records.

The Missing Persons and Presumption of Death Amendment Act, 2018, adds to the original Act of 2009 and will enhance the existing powers of police in a missing person investigation where there is no reason to suspect a crime has taken place.

In the case where no crime is suspected, police are not able to rely on the Criminal Code to access pertinent personal information of the reported missing person. The amendments to the Act look to broaden these parameters for officers working on the investigation to reduce delays in the investigation.

The amendments allow law enforcement to:
• obtain a search order where a missing minor or vulnerable person is believed to be in a building;
• access a broader range of records including global positioning tracking records, employment records and school records;
• access information about a person who might be in the company of a missing minor or vulnerable person; and
• make an emergency demand for records where certain criteria are met.

According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, the original Act established how the property of a missing person is administered, adopts presumption of death provisions and sets out how family members and law enforcement can access information about a person who is missing.

The amended act came into effect on Friday, March 15, 2019.