R.M.s face unique challenges in changing province
With the provincial government scrambling to find ways to fill the $1 billion deficit, bigger appears to be better when it comes to finding efficiencies.
This month alone, the province of Saskatchewan has announced plans to both consolidate the 12 existing health regions into a single administrative body, and a review of the current makeup of school boards with some mergers expected.
One area of provincial responsibility that has escaped talks of a merger, is the number of Rural Municipalities.
In Saskatchewan, there are 296 R.M.s and according to the 2011 census from Statistics Canada, these R.M.s are home to fewer than 175,000 residents, with the collective rural population in the province decreasing every year.