5 all-urban federal ridings proposed for Regina, Saskatoon

Some all-urban ridings could be coming to Saskatchewan's two biggest cities in the next federal election.

On Tuesday, a boundaries commission released a proposed new federal electoral map for the province which contains some major changes.

The map has 14 ridings, as before, but it moves away from the system of hybrid urban-rural boundaries that were previously the standard in Regina and Saskatoon.

The new map has five seats that are almost all urban: two in Regina and three in Saskatoon.

"Someone on 33rd Street in Saskatoon has more in common with someone on 22nd Street in Saskatoon than they do with someone who lives in Rosetown," said Ron Mills, the chair of the boundaries commission.

The map also includes some urban-rural ridings and most of the ridings are renamed.

The proposal takes into account Saskatchewan's increase in population from 978,933 in 2001 to 1,033,381 in 2011 and how different areas of the province grew relative to each other.

The commission wants to hear from people at public hearings this fall, Mills said.

"My major concern is that people do not assume that these proposals are written in stone — they are not," he said. "They are a starting base for a discussion with the people of Saskatchewan about what should be appropriate."

The next federal election is set for 2015.