HOMELESSNESS REACHES CRISIS POINT IN SASKATOON AS REPORT SHOWS SASK. PARTY DOWNLOADING COSTS ONTO CITY TAXPAYERS

REPORT SUGGESTS SASK. PARTY TO BLAME FOR CITY TAX HIKES

SASKATOON – As homelessness reaches record levels, a new report from City of Saskatoon officials is taking the Sask. Party government to task for passing the buck on issues of provincial jurisdiction and “downloading costs” onto municipal taxpayers.

“After 18 years in power, the Sask. Party is out of touch, out of ideas, and ignoring the issues keeping people up at night,” said Erika Ritchie, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Municipal Affairs.

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“Premier Moe’s government is downloading responsibility and costs onto municipal taxpayers forcing them to pick up the tab.”

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The City’s report defines downloading as the ways the “provincial government passes administrative costs, capital costs, service provision and other expenses” to municipalities without adequate funding. It

identifies homelessness and housing as major examples of downloading.

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It also identifies encampment clean-up costs and transit security as “unreasonable financial burdens that are directly related to underfunding of social programs, namely addictions and mental health resources.”

Without a real provincial plan or provincial funding to address homelessness, the issue has reached a crisis point. Nearly 2,000 homeless people identified in the latest point-in-time count, up substantially from 550 in 2022.

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Budget deliberations in Saskatoon began Tuesday with a projected 7.43 per cent property tax increase for 2026.

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“Sask. Party downloading means that costs for taxpayers keep going up and services keep getting worse,” said Ritchie. “We are getting the worst of both worlds. It’s long past time for the provincial government finds Saskatoon on a map again and starts doing its fair share.”

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