Sask. Party Cuts $17 Million from Healthcare Budget Despite Youth Mental Health Emergency
REGINA – Families, advocates, and mental health professionals gathered at the Saskatchewan Legislature today to demand urgent action from the Sask. Party government, which cut $17 million from the province’s healthcare budget despite a growing youth mental health crisis.
“The Sask. Party is turning its back on our children,” said Betty Nippi-Albright, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Addictions. “After 18 years of neglect, this government is still refusing to invest in the future.”
Jen Nordick shared her daughter Allyssa’s years-long struggle to access mental health care.
“Mental health patients literally have no doctors. Imagine telling heart patients to just eat better and exercise — without any cardiologists. That’s what it feels like,” Nordick said.
Maryellen Gibson, a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan and mental health advocate, urged the government to follow national best practices:
“We should be investing 12 per cent of our healthcare budget in mental health, as recommended by the Canadian Mental Health Association. That means real funding for prevention and treatment — not cuts.”
The Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth has declared the youth mental health situation a crisis.
Only 48 per cent of youth with emerging mental health needs are accessing care—far below the national average of 61 per cent.
Saskatchewan also faces one of the lowest psychiatrist-to-population ratios in Canada, with only 7.4 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association.
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