While revenues are budgeted to be up in the 2021-22 fiscal year, so are expenses, resulting in a $2.6 billion deficit in the Saskatchewan budget. Citing the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said the earliest their budgeting is forecast to be balanced won’t be until the 2026-27 fiscal year, despite the promise during the provincial election to eliminate the deficit by 2024. 

“It is difficult to overstate the impact of the pandemic,” said Harpauer. “It was not only a worldwide health crisis; the COVID-19 pandemic is also the largest shock to the Saskatchewan, Canadian and world economies of any event since the Second World War. It is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge that requires a significant response.” She added that while the return to balance will take longer than expected, the budget keeps every other promise made by the Saskatchewan Party during the provincial election in October. 

While the provincial government isn’t expecting the budget to return to balance until 2026-27, it won’t be looking to make people pay more to do so. 

“In order to grow the province, we have to be competitive, and we have to be competitive with other provinces and other countries, quite frankly, because we are trade-exposed, so we don’t anticipate any tax hikes going forward,” Harpauer clarified.  

The deficit that is included in the budget deals primarily with the costs of the pandemic, Harpauer stated.  

“We have in this budget, what I would say, is $1.5 billion that is COVID-related, which is a fairly substantive amount of money for a budget the size of our budget.” 

Revenues are being forecasted to be up by 6.1 percent from the 2020-21 budget to $14.5 billion, while expenses are up by $17.1 billion, or 6.3 percent. The revenues include an assumption of the West Texas Intermediate price of oil averaging $54.33 per barrel for the fiscal year, and potash averaging a price of $191 per KCl tonne. The numbers also use an assumption of the Canadian dollar averaging at 79.12 cents USD. 

The theme of the budget delivered by Harpauer was to protect, build and grow Saskatchewan.  

The budget highlights increases in spending in a number of areas, including $2 billion for the fiscal year to help with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is part of $4.8 billion budgeted for last year, this year, and the next two years as part of the recovery.  

The health budget is the largest of all the areas included in the budget, with $6.54 billion being set aside. This includes funding for the Ministry of Health, the Saskatchewan Health Authority, eHealth, the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and 3SHealth. There is $90 million set aside for the province’s COVID-19 response, including costs associated with vaccination rollout, purchasing personal protective equipment, contact tracing, and expansion of testing and assessment sites. Another $458 million is set aside for mental health and addictions programs and services, which is up by 5.4 percent from last year’s budget. 

Some of the highlights of the budget for the Ministry of Health include $3.96 billion for the Saskatchewan Health Authority, $204 million for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, and increasing funding for continuing care aides, with a goal to add 300 CCA positions in the province, with 90 expected to be added this year.  

The province’s support program for families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder between the ages of 6 and 11 will be eligible to receive up to $6,000 a year in individualized funding. This is in addition to the $8,000 per year already provided through the program for those with children under the age of six. 

It was also announced there will be $5 million in funding for people with diabetes, including financial coverage for continuous and flash glucose monitoring systems for those under 18, and expanding the insulin pump program to all those with Type 1 diabetes in Saskatchewan. Another $1.4 million will be going to add a new STARS helicopter to the provincial fleet. 

When it comes to education, the budgeting for all levels of education from K-12, and post-secondary education, is up in all by $391.3 million, an increase of 11.6 percent. Of the $3.75 billion for education, $2.66 billion is intended for pre-K to Grade 12. The 27 school divisions in the province will receive $1.96 billion in operating funding for the upcoming school year, an increase of $19.2 million from the previous budget. It will also cover the 2 percent salary increase for teachers as part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement. 

Childcare spaces are also receiving a $2 million increase in funding, which is intended to help create an additional 176 new licensed home-based spaces, and 51 new licensed centre spaces.  

For social services and assistance, the budget is increasing by 4.5 percent from 2020-21 to $1.56 billion. This includes spending through the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and the Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission. 

The benefits for seniors through the Seniors Income Plan are going up by $3.5 million. This will amount to payments going up by a maximum of $30 a month, and it takes effect July 1st. There is also a $19 million increase for the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability program and $9.1 million to address the current and anticipated needs of people with intellectual disabilities. 

The province's Income Support program is part of $619 million in the budget, and the Saskatchewan Housing Benefit is being expanded to include those who are paying 40 percent of their monthly income to rent. The benefit is part of a cost-match with the federal government under the National Housing Strategy.  

There were a number of increases announced for child and family programs in the province. This includes $8.2 million for new residential care spaces for children and youth with developmental and complex behavioural needs, an increase to implement a specialized training program for foster families that care for children with more intensive needs, $3 million to support more extended family caregivers to help children in their care remain connected to the culture and community, and $1.4 million for services aimed at preventing children from coming into the care of the Ministry of Social Services. 

It was also announced the Ministry of Social Services is providing $6.7 million to third-party service providers, including $4.2 million for those who work with people with intellectual disabilities, and $2.5 million in increases for those supporting at-risk children, youth and families. The funding for third-party service providers is part of $9.1 million overall being provided from the ministries of Education, Health, Justice, and Corrections and Public Safety. Another $660.3 million will be used for support for people with disabilities, an increase of $48.8 million. 

As part of the protect theme of the budget, $845.1 million was included for the protection of people and property. This includes $287,000 for the development of a Serious Incident Response Team to bring Saskatchewan’s police oversight consistent with that of other jurisdictions in the country and $3.2 million for the Gang Violence Reduction Strategy. 

A $23.1 million increase in the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture will bring the amount this year to $386.9 million. The budget includes funding for business risk management, and ups the average coverage per acre for the 2021 Crop Insurance program to $273. This is the highest per-acre coverage ever recorded for the program. There is also funding for the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program and $71.2 million for programs under the CAP agreement. 

Capital expenses, detailed in the Build part of the budget, were allotted $3.1 billion. Of this, $162 million is for health care capital. This includes $3.6 million for the future long-term care facility in Grenfell, $7.6 million for a long-term care facility in La Ronge, and $1.1 million for the planning stage of long-term care facilities in Watson, Estevan and Regina. Another $1.4 million is for the planning of the Weyburn Hospital, $5.7 million for urgent care centres in Regina and Saskatoon, and $1.4 million for continuing work at the Prince Albert Victoria Hospital. 

Highways are receiving $520.1 million for a number of capital projects, including twinning on Highway 3 west of Prince Albert. As well, passing lanes on Highway 7 from Kindersley to the Alberta border, two sets of passing lanes and widening on Highway 5 from Saskatoon to Highway 2, and completing the passing lanes on Highway 39 from Corinne to Estevan. Another $33.1 million in transfers for municipal infrastructure, the Urban Highway Connector Program and the Community Airport Partnership Program were included. There was also $530,000 included for a new Short-line Rail Infrastructure program. 

The Ministry of Education has $189.9 million set aside for capital expenses, including $101.9 million for 21 ongoing capital projects, which includes the construction of 16 new schools and the renovation of five. 

Capital investments from Crown Corporations were also listed in the budget. This included $937.6 million for SaskPower to improve the province's electricity system and ensuring the reliability of the electrical grid. There is $276.8 million in capital expenses planned for SaskEnergy, including the expansion of the transmission system, and $323.2 million for SaskTel for network improvements. 

For the growth theme of the budget, $39 million was included for workforce development, part of which is $17 million in funding from the federal government. Another $9.3 million has been budgeted to expand Saskatchewan's international presence with the opening of four new international trade offices. Currently, there are offices in India, Japan, Singapore and China. 

A number of incentive programs from the Ministry of Trade and Export Development were also continued in the budget. This includes the Saskatchewan Chemical Fertilizer incentive, the Saskatchewan Value-added Agriculture incentive and the Saskatchewan Commercial Innovation Incentive. 

The budget also includes the $174.8 million for the Saskatchewan Economic Recovery Rebate, which sees residents in the province receive a 10 percent rebate on their power bills.  

Some new taxes were also included in the budget, but they won’t be applying to everyone.  

Those who use vaping products can expect to see a 20 percent tax on the retail price start within the next twelve months. This is in line with the current tax imposed on regular tobacco products.  

It was also announced those who drive electric vehicles can expect to see a road use fee. The fee of $150 a year is being applied in lieu of the gas tax, which wouldn’t apply to electric vehicles. It was explained the fee helps to cover the cost of road maintenance, as the gas tax collected in Saskatchewan covers those expenses for other vehicles.