As of Monday, it will now cost property owners if there are repeated false alarm calls.

Penalties are now in effect if the fire department is called out to what turns out to be a false alarm.

Fire marshal Randy Ryba says the first violation will result in a warning letter, but subsequent violations will result in a $300 fine for a second one and a $600 fine for any others over a one-year time frame.

Ryba says this is a policy that many other cities across Canada already have.

“Others incorporated this many years ago.  We were spending too much money and resources on this so hopefully by putting the onus on the property owner to make sure their systems are working properly we can reduce the problem.” Ryba said.

Ryba says the cost of responding to false alarms yearly is in the $350,000 area with more than 1,000 false alarms being responded to at homes and businesses in 2017.

Under the new bylaw, it is considered a false alarm when a fire safety monitoring device initiates a request for fire rescue services not caused by heat, smoke or fire, and after attending and inspecting, there is no danger to safety, health and welfare of people, property or the environment. Another false alarm is when a signal from a security system intended to detect an unauthorized entry is directed to Regina Fire and Protective Services instead of the Regina Police Service.