Saskatoon business to provide millions of masks for Saskatchewan schools

A Saskatoon company has been awarded a government contract that will provide 18,000 face shields and four million disposable masks for Saskatchewan schools.

Benchmark PPE started shipping the masks and shields to Saskatchewan's 27 school divisions and 26 independent schools on Monday.

The Ministry of Education saidmore shipments will be sent throughout the week.

The order is enough to provide each school-based staff member with a face shield.

"Our government is pleased to support Saskatchewan-based personal protective equipment suppliers while protecting students, school staff and families," Education Minister Dustin Duncan said in a press release. "We continue to work closely with the education sector to identify how we can best support their school-based needs."

This is the third time the government has ordered PPE for staff and students since the coronavirus pandemic began in March.

The government previously purchased 8.4 million disposable masksand 28,000 face shields for schools in the fall from an Ontario manufacturer.

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Education is also looking for a company to produce 210,000 non-medical cloth masks for delivery in early 2021.

Submissions are due on Jan. 14 and the preferred delivery date of the masks is on, or before, Jan. 29. That means suppliers would have 15 days from when submissions close to start delivering.

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