REGINA - The Saskatchewan government has released its provincial budget, and of course, one's thoughts on how the dollars are being spent may depend on where people sit on the fence politically.
Released with a slogan of, 'Delivering For You', the province says that Budget 2025 is in fact delivering for the people of Saskatchewan on a number of key priorities.
Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Jim Reiter says that the budget is targeting sectors that are important to the everyday lives of residents - health care, education, affordability, community safety, and responsible financial management - while at the same time, addressing the challenges that come with a growing province.
"We understand this budget is being delivered at a very volatile time, due to the constantly changing tariff threats from the United States," Reiter said in a media release. "Right now, we do not know what tariffs the U.S. may impose or how long they may last. As a result, it was not possible to build the exact impact of tariffs into the budget.
However, we are not letting the tariff threat prevent us from following through on our commitments to the people of Saskatchewan. Our strong financial position means we are well-positioned to weather the impact of any tariffs that may be imposed on Canada and Saskatchewan."
Delivering what they call a balanced budget for 2025-26 and "a signal for strong financial management", the province also says there will be a surplus of $12 million.
In dealing with affordability issues, the province is taking measures that they say will help ensure that Saskatchewan "remains the most affordable place in Canada to live, work, raise a family and start a business."
Some of those measures being promoted include:
- Raising the basic personal exemption, spousal and equivalent-to-spousal exemption, dependent child exemption and the seniors supplement by $500 a year, for the next four years - over and above the impact of indexation - for the largest personal income tax reduction in the province since 2008;
- Increasing monthly income assistance benefits by two per cent for Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) and Saskatchewan Assured income for Disability (SAID) clients;
- Increasing the Disability Tax Credit and Caregiver Tax Credit by 25 per cent;
- Doubling the Active Families Benefit refundable tax credit from $150 to $300 per child and doubling the income threshold to qualify to $120,000 to make children's sports, arts, cultural and recreational activities more affordable for more Saskatchewan families;
- Reinstating the Home Renovation Tax Credit, which will allow homeowners to save up to $420 annually in home renovation expenses, while seniors undertaking home renovations can save up to $525;
- Increasing the Graduate Retention Program benefit by 20 per cent to a maximum of $24,000; and
- Permanently maintaining the small business tax rate at one per cent, benefiting more than 35,000 small businesses in Saskatchewan and saving them over $50 million in corporate income taxes annually.
Health care is one of the biggest priorities in the numbers, with the Ministry of Health receiving a record $8.1 billion, an increase of 6.4% that equates to an additional $485 million.
As well, the Saskatchewan Health Authority receives an increase of $261 million, or 5.6%, for a record $4.9 billion budget; and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency receives $279 million, an increase of $30 million, or 12.2%.
The province says this funding will provide better access to acute care programs and services in order to improve patient outcomes, including reducing surgical wait times as part of a plan to perform 450,000 procedures over four years.
Dealing with mental health and addictions programs, such services will receive $624 million to deliver support and investments in Saskatchewan, including an increase of $20 million for targeted initiatives. This initiative includes continued progress on the multi-year Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, and expanded access to mental health and addictions services and care by delivering on the government's commitment to add 500 addictions treatment spaces across the province, doubling the public health system's capacity.
Overall, health capital funding will increase by $140 million, for a total of $657 million - the highest ever capital budget to deliver major health infrastructure projects.
In the education sector, the province says they're delivering "increased opportunities and supports" for students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, as well as parents and teachers across Saskatchewan.
Touching on the more than $5 billion that has been invested in K-12 education, this year's budget sees the Ministry of Education receive $3.5 billion, an increase of $184 million over the previous year. In addition, the budget also includes an increase of $130 million to fund the new teacher collective agreement and work to address growing student enrollment and the challenges that are facing today's classrooms.
As well, building on what the government calls the success of last year's pilot project in eight provincial schools, the budget provides funding for 50 additional specialized support classrooms throughout the province. The specialized classrooms help reduce interruptions by providing additional supports to students who need them.
As far as building new schools goes, Budget 2025-26 is investing a school capital budget of $191 million. This includes ongoing funding for the 21 new or consolidated schools and three major renovations underway across Saskatchewan, as well as funding to begin planning for one new replacement school and preplanning for four new schools in the Saskatoon area.
The Highways budget this year of $777.0 million is something that the province calls "a road map to enhance driver safety and invest in strategic infrastructure to sustain Saskatchewan's export-based economy."
More than 1000 km of provincial highways will be improved for a total of more than 7,000 km over six years. Improvements are set to include 200 km of repaving, 245 km of medium treatments like micro surfacing, 480 km of pavement sealing, 95 km of Thin Membrane Surface and rural highway upgrades, and 30 km of gravel rehabilitation.
In the agriculture side of things, the budget is including record funding of $625 million, an increase of just over $54 million from the previous year.
Through the federal-provincial Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, this year's agriculture budget allocates $483.8 million to continue funding the existing suite of business risk management programs, including Crop Insurance and AgriStability. The budget includes $89.4 million for programs to help strengthen the competitiveness, innovation and resiliency of the agriculture sector.
Agriculture research remains a high priority in Saskatchewan, and this budget is investing $37 million to help producers stay competitive and profitable in international markets. Over the past five years, the province has invested more than $166 million in key personnel at crop and livestock research facilities, in research chairs to advance strategic priorities and in research projects that demonstrate innovative technologies to producers and agronomists at the local level.
Speaking on the provincial budget was Outlook mayor Ryan Husband, who says he was glad to see a number of increases to key initiatives that are important to the riverside community and local area.
"I went down to the budget proceedings on Wednesday," explained Husband. "I had good discussions with many provincial leaders about the opportunities for Outlook and outlined some of the hurdles we’re bumping into as well. I was pleased to see increases to the Municipal Revenue Sharing program as that provides unencumbered dollars that we can use to better our community. The Community Rink Affordability Grant was also increased so that helps us offset the rink costs."
As well, Husband says that the Town is looking forward to benefitting from other investments that the province is targetting.
"Team Outlook was also pleased to see an investment for municipal bylaw court hubs which will lessen the burden on our staff when trying to prosecute or collect from municipal offences," he shared. "Other provincial investments we anticipate to benefit from are for additional paramedics, the Virtual ER Physician program, which will reduce the times our ER has to be bypassed, and early learning and child care."
Of course, close attention is being paid to the Highways department, as Husband says the Town is looking to keep a local roadway at the top of mind for those with the provincial spending dollars, and he's looking forward to working with the government in order to help advocate for Outlook residents.
"We are still advocating to keep Highway 15 top of mind for the Minister of Highways," he said. "We anticipate that planning and preparation is still ongoing and we hope to see that as a significant line item in next year's budget.
Town Council and I are looking forward to continuing to work with our provincial government on behalf of our residents. We are confident these 2025 provincially budgeted investments will result in better quality of life for our residents."
