REGINA — The Canadian Taxpayer Federation (CTF) is calling for Regina to release details on gift card spending.
The CTF requested access to information on the amount the city spent during the 2025 fiscal year.
“This includes any summary records, spreadsheets, financial reports or other documents showing total expenditures on gift cards and prepaid debit cards, broken down by the department and total dollar amount,” stated the request.
However, the CTF said Regina provided no information on spending amounts, as it doesn’t track gift card spending.
City officials also told the CTF that gathering records containing potential information on gift card spending would take more than 200 hours.
“If Regina doesn’t know how much is being spent on gift cards, how can it figure out how to prevent wasteful spending or fraud?” said the CTF.
Recent investigations found the City of Richmond, Ont., had nearly $300,000 in unaccounted gift cards. Between 2022 and 2024, the city spent roughly $500,000 of taxpayer money on gift cards.
Regina raised their mill rate by 10.9 per cent last year, costing the average homeowner nearly $300 more in property taxes.
“Every single dollar that Regina taxpayers send to the city needs to be accounted for,” said the CTF. “The city needs to immediately figure out how much it is spending on gift cards every year and release that information to taxpayers.”
In response to SaskToday’s inquiry, the city said it does not have a gift card program.
The city also noted it has policies in place to ensure the appropriate use and distribution of gift cards.
