Indigenous Court in Saskatchewan long overdue, experts say

A major new pilot project from the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan could change the way some Indigenous people are sentenced in the province.

An Indigenous Provincial Court is being developed by the province to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system “by providing a culturally grounded, restorative, and holistic approach to justice,” they said in a statement.

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According to Statistics Canada, Indigenous adults are incarcerated at a rate 19.4 times higher than non-Indigenous individuals in Saskatchewan. Indigenous people represent approximately 78 percent of the total adult provincial custody population in the province. A report in 2021 showed that the incarceration rate for Indigenous men was 179.5 per 10,000.

The Provincial Court stated they are actively leading the development of an Indigenous Court in Saskatoon through an Elder-guided, co-design process. They are partnering with Indigenous communities, community resources, and victims supports.

They plan to launch the court in summer 2026, but declined to provide further detail on how the Indigenous court would work or what sort of offences would be handled at the court.

“It’s long, long overdue,” said Kim Beaudin, National Vice-Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples of Canada.

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