The first use of the title "Highway Traffic Officer" dates back to the creation of the Public Utilities Board in 1928. In 1934, the Public Utilities Board changed its name to the Highway Traffic Board.
In 1939, the first platform scales were constructed to help enforce The Highways Act.
The late 1950s saw the deployment of portable weigh scales for weight enforcement on our secondary highway system.
The first investigators were hired in 1977 to perform line-haul investigations assessing service levels and any complaints surrounding rates, interline, and damage claims. A year later the first patrol detachments were created to monitor areas with high truck volumes without investing in a permanent weight station. In 1982, the nearly 50-year-old Highway Traffic Board became part of the Department of Highways and Transportation. Along with this came the creation of the Highway Transport Patrol.
The Department of Highways and Transportation changed its name in 2007 to the Ministry and Highways and Infrastructure. Four years later in April of 2011, the ministry moved the Highway Transport Patrol and Investigations Unit into the Regional Services Division. From this the Transport Compliance Branch was renamed to Regional Logistics-Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE).
In 2016, the CVE functions were centralized and the Highway Transport Patrol and the Investigations Unit were combined. In 2018, the CVE branch became part of a new Protection and Response Team (PRT). In 2016, the Government of Saskatchewan announced that the CVE Branch would change its name to the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol to better reflect the additional duties that were added through the PRT.
In 2022, the Provincial Protective Services Branch was established, uniting highway patrol, conservation, Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods officers, prisoner transport and court security deputy sheriffs, and Wascana Park community safety officers under one organizational structure. The new structure will help enhance services and ensure a consistent, collaborative approach to public safety incidents in Saskatchewan.