REGINA - For the most part there was a positive response from municipalities to the 2025 provincial budget.
In particular, municipalities both urban and rural welcomed the stable predictable funding from municipal revenue sharing by $21 million, about 6.3 per cent.
Randy Goulden, President of the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, called that "a good increase, because that revenue sharing is absolutely essential into the budgeting process of our municipalities that are in this province, because it's predictable and it's sustainable. So when we do our budgets, we know that that amount of money is going to be coming.”
Goulden said they were also pleased with the increase in funding for northern roads and airports, because “there's a great need up there, as there is throughout the province.” She also welcomed the additional funding coming to highways in the north and around the province.
But she did express concerns that there was no increase to the Urban Highways Connector Program and also no increase to the Community Airport Partnership funding grants to municipal airports.
A big point of uncertainty, she acknowledged, was the ongoing tariff threat both from the United States and now China, the latter hitting Canada with 100 per cent canola tariffs Thursday.
Goulden is a Yorkton city councillor and she pointed to that city’s proximity to potash mines, as well as having two canola crush mills in Yorkton — all of which will likely bear the brunt of tariffs impact.
“So we have huge concerns, and we are asking our provincial government to make sure they're at those tables so they can advocate for us.”
Bill Huber, President of Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, also welcomed the revenue sharing money, though he would have liked to see more.
“Our members probably wish we had a little more, but, you know, we've got some pretty difficult times ahead of us, and I think our Premier and the Finance Minister, you know, have had their struggles in the last weeks with some of the things that have been challenging us in rural Saskatchewan -- and not only in rural Saskatchewan but Canada as a whole and worldwide.”
Huber particularly pointed to concerns of his membership about tariffs, particularly the China canola tariffs. He called those tariffs the “most devastating thing we're dealing with right now.”
“It's a very bad time of the year. Producers have got their seeding plants in place, their seed bought, their fertilizer purchased, and it's hard to change those rotations right now. And canola has dropped $2 a bushel approximately in most bids, and, you know, we don't know whether... that tariff is going to be lifted and prices will rally again.”
Huber wanted to see the federal government start talking to the president of China to resolve the situation, which he noted is a response to the Canadian tariffs on EVs.
“We could lose an industry and we could lose hundreds and hundreds of jobs because of these tariffs. So it's not a good place we're in right now.”
From a big city perspective, Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block was happy with what she heard about the budget.
“I'm very grateful,” Block said. “I came here to make sure that that municipal revenue sharing was going to stay in place, and I was pleased to see that it was going up. I know that's news that isn't exactly brand new today… but it's a relief to know that it's a certainty again. That's not necessarily how the world is right now. We live in a time of great uncertainty.”
But there was disappointment from Block that not enough was in the budget to address the addictions and overdose crisis currently ravaging Saskatoon.
“So there was nothing in the budget today that spoke directly to the types of crises that we're seeing in our city right now around overdose and homelessness,” Block said.
“And we are in a crisis. And I'm grateful that the province is working with us. They have enacted their emergency response centre to help support our city at this time.
And we need to continue to work urgently, both to get to the other side of this new emergency around the very lethal drugs in Saskatoon and the homelessness crisis. But foundationally, we have learned, especially through the latest Stats Canada data, that unless or until people are safely housed, none of this will change. Regardless of mental health, addiction, or trauma, when people are housed with the right supports, that's when we'll start to see a difference.”
