The Government of Saskatchewan has announced that they have purchased 18,000 face shields and 4 million disposable masks from the Saskatoon-based company Benchmark Personal Protective Equipment to continue to help keep students and school staff safe.

Justin Stuart, Benchmark Personal Protective Equipment Business Developer details how the company obtained the contract with the government.

"At the beginning of the pandemic in around March or April perhaps closer to May, the Saskatchewan Government created a prequalified list of vendors and we were invited to participate in that. We give our information and we were preselected as a supplier of PPE. We are the only manufacturer of three-ply masks in the province."

Stuart details what it means to have the items purchased within the province as the Government previously purchased products from Ontario.

"What it means for us to learn that this additional purchase is being made in the province is excellent because although the other ones were purchased in Canada, it wasn't disclosed if they were Canadian products or not. Also even if it's the same product it's just better to have it done in the province so people in the province are getting the work."

These supplies are being purchased using the $10 million allocated to the Ministry of Education for the purchase of PPE for schools.

“Benchmark PPE is extremely proud to be able to manufacture these critical PPE items in Saskatoon,” Stuart said. “It is of the utmost importance to keep students and staff in schools safe while in the classroom.”