Legislative Report
December 12, 2024

Making Life More Affordable

The fall sitting of the 30^th Legislature is complete. Our government was able to advance legislation to build a strong economy and bright future for all Saskatchewan residents, while delivering on the recent provincial election commitment to make life more affordable.

Our government knows that affordability continues to be top of mind for many Saskatchewan residents, which is why our government introduced The Saskatchewan Affordability Act. It fulfills the commitment we made during the recent election campaign and aims to deliver long-term, sustainable support for all Saskatchewan residents and families.

The Saskatchewan Affordability Act ensures that Saskatchewan maintains the status of the most affordable place in Canada to live, work, raise a family and start a business by implementing 13 affordability commitments. This includes the largest personal income tax reduction in the province since 2008 by raising the personal exemption, spousal exemption, child exemptions and the seniors supplement by $500 a year for the next four years.

Additionally, The SaskEnergy (Carbon Tax Fairness for Families) Amendment Act, 2024 fulfills the government's commitment from the recent provincial election to extend the carbon tax exemption on home heating. This is in response to the federal government's decision to stop charging the carbon tax on home heating oil, which primarily benefits families in Atlantic Canada. Effective January 1, 2024, the removal of the federal carbon tax from residential SaskEnergy bills is saving the average Saskatchewan family approximately $400.

Due to the expected increase in the carbon tax on April 1, 2025, from $80 to $95 per tonne, the continued removal of the federal carbon tax from residential SaskEnergy bills will save the average Saskatchewan family approximately $480 in 2025. Both The Saskatchewan Affordability Act and The SaskEnergy (Carbon Tax Fairness for Families) Act were passed unanimously in the legislative assembly.

Improving Access to Health Care

Our government also made progress towards promises made in this year’s Speech from the Throne. One important commitment was ensuring every Saskatchewan resident had access to a primary care provider by 2028. Recognizing that continued collaboration with all health sector partners is key to addressing staffing in health care facilities. Saskatchewan is investing $1.1 million to launch a medical resident recruitment incentive targeting high demand specialties. Medical residents training in Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia and Diagnostic Radiology programs are now eligible for a new financial incentive of up to $60,000.

A continued focus on infrastructure is key to expanding services to every region of the province. To that end, our government committed to expanding the Urgent Care Centre models to 4 additional cities, offering better access to immediate care for patients. The province was also pleased to announce the grand opening of the Martensville Primary Health Clinic, one of only two clinics of the kind in Saskatchewan offering publicly funded nurse practitioner led primary care.

Supporting Our Classrooms

The Throne Speech showed our government’s continued support for increasing supports in our classrooms through our commitment to expanding the amount of specialized support classrooms from eight to 200. These classrooms provide extra resources to students who are experiencing behavioral challenges, with an additional learning space and additional staff. They empower students with regulation, communication and problem-solving strategies which they can utilize when they return to their home classroom. The high impact individualized supports offered by these classrooms have already produced positive results with divisions who are currently participating in the pilots.

Our government is developing a Saskatchewan student assessment program that will provide data on how students are doing in core subject areas, recognizing that reading levels from kindergarten to Grade 3 are a key indicator of educational success. The goals of assessment are to provide a fair and objective measure of how students are doing, help guide instruction and assist schools, divisions and government in improving student achievement.

Now that the fall sitting of the Legislature has finished, we look forward to spending some time with our friends and family celebrating the holiday season. May the holiday season bring joy and happiness to you and your family; Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours!