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The legislation that would underpin the Sask. government’s forced addictions treatment plan has yet to pass, but money has been allocated in this week’s budget for the first phase.
According to Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr, that phase involves opening the province’s first such facility in North Battleford.
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She said that area was chosen because there’s a provincial psychiatric facility there.
“We know that mental health and addictions go hand-in-hand, and that’ll be a big piece and a part of their recovery, so just ensuring that the professionals are available when we need them,” said Carr.
People from all over the province will be eligible to be sent to that facility based on need, how the tribunal works, and how they’re referred.
“You will not be turned down from services if the need is there and you go through the process and we have a spot for you, it doesn’t matter where you are in the province,”
The program will begin in North Battleford and then be expanded to the rest of the province as things progress.
“Ensuring that we get the process right, that everything runs smoothly, that what we’re intending with our services is provided, and then expanding throughout the province,” said Carr.
She said the facility in North Battleford will be very “intense” and use the recovery-oriented system of care.
The legislation underpinning the program is expected to pass this spring, then the minister said the regulations will have to be built, as well as finding people to serve on the tribunals that will be the decision-making bodies which send people to treatment.
She said the hope is to have something up and running in the fall, but allowed it could take longer. Carr said they’re still working out how many beds there will be or where the facility will be located.
The 2026-27 budget put $673.7 million into mental health and addictions programs, which is a $49.9 million increase from the year before.
Government is expecting to add 200 more addictions treatment spaces this fiscal year, fulfilling its promise to create 500 more.
A six-bed “secure youth detox site” is also being built at Calder Centre in Saskatoon, and complex needs facilities are being opened in Prince Albert and North Battleford.
