Sask. govt invests $3 million in Saskatoon homelessness services

Saskatoon’s homelessness services are getting a cash infusion of $3 million.

The new funding from the provincial government to support the city’s year-round homelessness drop-in services was announced on Thursday.

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This money is in addition to the two-year $40.2 million investment the provincial government already contributed in its Provincial Approach to Homelessness (PATH).

During Thursday’s announcement, Minister of Social Services Terry Jenson’s said the $3 million funding is for next year, and had no clear plans of becoming a recurring yearly allocation. He said the province will work on longer-term homelessness investments for Saskatoon and other parts of Saskatchewan in the coming year.

One of Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block’s top priorities coming into office was addressing homelessness and this money will help towards that goal. She said predictable funding lets the city plan its homeless strategies better, to benefit everyone.

“Knowing that it’s stable funding 365 days a year, it relieves a lot of pressure on the city and on civic services,” she said, adding how the investment will save time and energy so other priorities can be addressed.

Minister of Social Services Terry Jenson said providing consistent funding means that providers won’t be “lurching along with ad hoc programs and services during the year.” (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)

While there aren’t any specifics yet on how this funding will be allocated, Jenson said that the Ministry of Social Services and City of Saskatoon will work together to distribute the funds among service providers. Together, the two will identify programs or services that need to be expanded.

But even without the details ironed out, Jenson said the city’s cold weather strategy will “be obviously part of this funding.”

“It is my strong hope that this will simply be continuous, that there will not be a gap in in the services,” Block said, referring to the existing drop-in center issues.

These centers for unhoused people will be open until the end of October. But last year, warming centres didn’t open until mid-November, leaving people without places to go for a few weeks.

Jenson said addressing these gaps is also on his radar, saying that his ministry and the city will, “be having those conversations in terms of making sure that there’s a seamless transition in there.”

Gaps aside, Block said she’s focused on addressing youth homelessness.

“Looking to young people as a really core, foundational piece of solving homelessness in our city is so important to prevent homelessness in the first place,” she said, pointing to the example of White Buffalo Youth Lodge.