REGINA — The education portion of the 2026 Saskatchewan provincial budget did not offer a lot of surprises, and is getting some mixed reactions from those close to the sector.
“Overall, it's mostly what we expected,” was the reaction from Dr. Shawn Davidson of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.
He was particularly pleased with the government “fulfilling their promise to 50 additional specialized support programs across the province.”
On the operating side, the budget is seeing $2.5 billion in school operating funding for the 2026-27 school year, up $62 million. Davidson said that, too, is pretty much what was expected.
But one area they were concerned about in is transportation in their school divisions.
“We've seen the cost of school buses pretty much double over the last five years. We've seen the cost of parts go up astronomically. We're certainly seeing fuel prices shoot up right now. And so we have some concerns around that particular area and whether divisions are going to fall short in their transportation departments and have to make some tough decisions related to that.”
Their biggest disappointment, said Davidson, was a “lack of further investment in preventative maintenance and renewal.”
He said across the province, “most of the schools are older than I am, and I've got a lot of gray hair. So these buildings need some… They need maintenance.”
Davidsom said the province is “fully aware that our expectation for preventative maintenance and renewal is one per cent of the insured asset value. And the insured asset value in the province now is about $15 billion. So $65 million for maintenance is not anywhere close. And we were hoping… We weren't really hoping that they would get to the one per cent target in one year, but we were hoping they were going to move a little bit closer in this budget and they didn't.”
Failing grade from STF
“It’s awful,” was the response of Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation President Samantha Becotte. She didn’t buy the government’s tagline that the budget was about “Protecting Saskatchewan.”
“This government is talking about protecting their investments, protecting communities, protecting students,” said Becotte at the Legislature Wednesday.
“And from our perspective, the numbers aren't adding up. This government or this budget is doing nothing to protect students and classrooms. And in reality, it actually decreases per student funding when we adjust for inflation and enrollment growth that we receive from government by $33 per student. So over the last couple of years, we have made positive gains to restoring per student funding to back to where we were in 2015-2016 when we were first in the country. And this budget is actually a step backwards.”
The biggest disappointment, she said, is that the “government's words don't match their actions. We've heard in the throne speech that education is a priority. We've heard from the premier that education is a priority. We've heard from the minister of education, education is a priority. And then even with this budget, they're talking about protecting the services, including education. And none of that matches what we're seeing within this budget.”
A main concern for Becotte was the operating budget, and the impact of funding concerns on students.
“We've been talking about classroom complexity quite a bit over the last little while.
And through the collective action of teachers and parents and students, we made positive gains over the last couple of years to address the needs of students. This budget, as I said, is a step backwards. There's less per student available to address the needs of kids.”
Becotte believes the result is likely to be “larger class sizes in the 26-27 school year. There will likely be fewer EAs available for students to address their needs in classrooms. We've been talking about upwards of two-year waits for some of the professional supports available in schools and classrooms. And those will likely be cut further. Ultimately, it means that kids are going to be left behind and going to be left struggling in their classrooms. “
NDP Education critic Matt Love was, not surprisingly, unimpressed with the budget for Education.
“Every year on budget day, the Sask Party government, no matter who it is, they like to tell us a story that this is record investment in our classrooms. And they're doing the same thing again this year,” said Love.
“And then in the coming weeks and months, school divisions are forced into a position where they're going to be making some cuts. I think that's where we are again this year. There's nothing new in this budget for the growing complexities in our classroom. And there's actually a massive cut to school capital. And that's at a time when we've got hundreds of schools by this government's own records that are crumbling. And we've got dozens of schools that are bursting at the seams. And yet this government has decided to cut that part of the budget that funds major renovations and new school builds.”
One particular sore point for the NDP was that the capital budget did not give a go-ahead to a new high school in White City, something the party has been vocal about.
“We've got White City and Emerald Park, the largest communities in this province that don't have a high school for over 5,000 people who live there. It's the top request from that school division. And for most of the year since 2014, it's been their number one request. And I think it just shows again, the Sask Party government, they're not listening to the real needs that are out there with school divisions, parents, teachers and families.”
Hindley says continued investments are being made
Minister of Education Everett Hindley reiterated on Wednesday that the 2026 budget in education is “about protecting some of the really key investments that we've made.”
In particular, Hindley pointed to another increase in the operating budget which he points out is about 20 per cent over the past three years — “8.4 per cent and 8.8 per cent increases the school operating in the past two previous budgets, building on that with another 2.6 per cent… I think that's a significant commitment towards education.”
HIndley also pointed to the investments into the additional 50 specialized support classrooms, bringing them up to 108.
He also pointed to a number of new projects announced that day including the joint use schools in the cities of Martinsville and Warman, a major capital renovation project at the Esterhazy High School, and a pre-K to 12 in Shellbrook.
It was the Shellbrook project, in Premier Scott Moe’s riding, that drew the particular ire of the NDP. They claimed favouritism played a role and pointed to a multitude of other schools that were in even worse shape than the one in Shellbrook being slated for replacement.
When asked by reporters Thursday, Hindley said a new school had been a priority for the school division there for well over a decade.
“So it's certainly in need of replacement due to the age of the existing schools in Shellbrook. And, you know, we take a look at those, at those asks from school divisions very, very closely.”
Speaking to SaskToday on Wednesday, Hindley explained that the way the selection process for new schools works is that the 27 school divisions submit a list where they identify their capital priorities, and those are considered by the Ministry of Education takes a look at those.
“And so think about it, 27, probably every school division submitting perhaps at least three, I would say,” HIndley said. “So you're looking at north of 75 new schools being considered or contemplated by the government.”
He said they make decisions based on the amount of dollars they have, and based on a variety of factors. Some are requested because of enrollment pressures, and “that's particularly the case in Regina and Saskatoon,” Hindley said.
“Others are schools in rural areas where perhaps, for example, it's a school that's 50, 60 years old and just simply can't be repaired anymore and needs to be replaced. So we try to factor, take a look at all those factors, balance that out. And that has been an ongoing process.”
He noted the government has announced 74 new schools across the province
dating back to 2007. 54 new schools are now open while another 20 are in various stages of design, pre-planning, development, and in some cases construction.
As for the opposition NDP and their calls for schools in communities such as White City, Hindley said “I would argue that I think from the NDP's perspective, they promised everything to everybody. No plan on how to pay for that. So it's easy to do that in opposition and just run from one community to the next.”
He did say the concerns raised by people in those communities are valid. In the case of White City, Hindley said he has had numerous conversations with the MLA Brad Crassweller and had been put to meet with people in the community to discuss that.
“And I can tell you, as part of those meetings, there's been discussions as to, should it be an elementary school? Should it be a high school? You know, what is it that they need in that particular community? We take our advice from groups like the municipal leadership, but also from the school division.”
Hindley said those are “very, very difficult decisions” to decide what goes ahead, and “none of these decisions are made lightly.”
“They take a lot of work, a lot of deliberation. And it's often a choice between, not between a good decision and a bad one, or a good project and a bad one. It's never that. It's about making a choice between two or three or many very, very good submissions and very, very good worthwhile projects.”
Take a look at our highlight video filmed by Denis Conroy at the top of the article.
