SASKATOON — The province and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan have opened up 11 supportive housing units in Saskatoon aimed at women caught up in the justice system.
According to a government news release Thursday, the one-bedroom units are aimed at those women who might otherwise face incarceration or homelessness. The goal is to provide them with stable housing and connections to services designed to meet their needs.
The province says the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan will manage the day-to-day operations, providing case management and linking the residents to resources and assistance.
Social Services provided more than $1 million to the project, according to the news release, as part of a $5 million investment in the Rental Development Program in the 2025-26 provincial budget. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Community Safety is providing $918,000 over two years — $459,000 annually in 2026-27 and 2027-28 — to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Saskatchewan for reintegration supports for female offenders.
The Government of Canada also contributed more than $70,000 toward construction costs and more than $335,000 in program funding through the Reaching Home program, supporting housing stabilization and wraparound services.
At the announcement in Saskatoon on Thursday, Social Services Minister Terry Jenson said this was an initiative to ensure that “we have individuals who aren't going to fall through the cracks. So this is, again, the preventative part of it, ensuring that we're going to be keeping women safe and giving them the opportunities they need to rebuild their lives.”
Jenson particularly welcomed the targeted programming being offered.
“So when it comes to being able to rebuild your life post-incarceration, being able to have that structure around you allows that individual to grow and ultimately succeed and become part of the community again. And I think another really important piece to this is the reunification of mother and child and being able to ensure that those children have that parent in their life again. And we fully support and we really do strive to make sure that we're trying to reunify mother and child or parent and child as much as possible.”
This latest initiative and government funding come at a time of mounting frustration in Saskatoon over issues like crime, addictions and homelessness.
The sense that “things were getting worse” despite those government supports was raised in a question posed to Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger at the event.
Belanger acknowledged that taxpayers' goodwill “isn't an infinite resource — we have to use it wisely.” He called the funding for this 11-unit project a "good example" where you "give the proper support, starting off with the basic need of shelter …”
“We've got to find that goodwill among taxpayers and generally the people of Saskatchewan to prove to them that their investment is paying off.”
Belanger also said he thought the Elizabeth Fry Society and the project's proponents “want to see many of these folks recover, become independent and become taxpaying citizens, productive, disciplined taxpaying citizens.”
Belanger acknowledged that it “seems some days we're fighting a losing battle, and all I say to folks is that we cannot police our way out of this problem alone. Good tough laws are important, those who offend our communities need to be addressed or need to be dealt with in a very thorough manner, but the root causes of poverty need to be addressed as well.”
Jenson asked about the social issues facing Saskatoon
At the event, Jenson was asked about those well-publicized social issues facing Saskatoon. In particular, he was asked what provincial commitments were being made to support community organizations that are feeling the pressures of the closure of Prairie Harm Reduction earlier in the year.
Jenson said his ministry took a “proactive approach” to ensure that if there were any programs being offered, a transition to new providers took place immediately and there was no gap in service.
“We continue to have discussions with different community-based organizations in Saskatoon to ensure that all those things are still in place and that we have improvements going forward, and we're always working with those community-based organizations, taking away their ideas and how they mix with the province's goals and all this to ensure that those services continue to be provided.”
Jenson also said they were working with groups and organizations like the Saskatoon Tribal Council, the Salvation Army and the Mustard Seed temporary shelter to “make sure that if there are vulnerable individuals who need those services, we're going to be able to provide those services.”
“And again, we're working with the City of Saskatoon as well as all of our municipalities around the province, whether it's Regina or Prince Albert, to ensure that if there are individuals who are in a vulnerable state, they have a place to go, and then from there they can be assessed and we can work with them to either get them into treatment or we can get them into housing if they're ready for housing right from the start.”
Jenson also gave his reaction to calls from the opposition NDP earlier in the week for him to go and tour 20th Street.
“Well, I take exception to that accusation,” Jenson told reporters. “Quite frankly, I've been in Saskatoon quite a bit. I live in Warman and I've been on 20th Street. I've been in Riversdale and Pleasant Hill numerous times. I have a great working relationship with Saskatoon Tribal Council, Riversdale BID.”
He said he has met numerous times with Riversdale BID executive director Randy Pshebylo.
“In fact, Randy and I just had a conversation yesterday, and so I take great exception to that accusation that I'm not in that neighbourhood. I am, and I'm there quite a bit.”
Jenson also said he has spent some time with the outreach team operated by Saskatoon Tribal Council, learning the stories of those outreach workers.
