Saskatchewan introduces budget with spending hikes but also $819-million deficit

“We could have increased some taxes. We could’ve not put as much funding into key areas like health care. We decided now is not the time to be doing that.”

Global uncertainty, including tariffs from the United States and other countries and the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, is also weighing on the books, he added.

“Saskatchewan is in the best position of any province in Canada to get through this turmoil,” Reiter said.

His government is also planning to reduce the public service by three per cent through attrition, focusing on unfilled positions behind the front lines.

“We are not going to be handing out pink slips,” Reiter said. “This (will apply) if somebody retires; this is if somebody is willingly leaving their position to go somewhere else.”

Debt is forecast to be $43.5 billion and debt financing costs are expected to be $1.2 billion.

The budget shows the province plans to spend an extra $1.2 billion, mainly for education and health care while providing benefits and tax incentives for families struggling to pay bills and put food on the table.

Health care is getting about a five per cent boost in funding for a total budget of $8.4 billion. The province says the extra dollars stem from a plan to hire more nurse practitioners, adding hospital beds, lowering wait times and expanding virtual appointments.

It is also working toward completing 500 addiction treatment spaces and planning new urgent care centres.

On affordability, the budget says it will fulfil a promise the Saskatchewan Party government made in 2024 by lowering personal income taxes. The province estimates families will save about $200 million this year by no longer paying the tax on their first $65,000 of income.

The budget says Saskatchewan’s economy remains healthy, putting it in a strong position to generate those revenues needed to support public services.

Revenues are projected to be up by $360 million, largely due to the province receiving more provincial sales taxes. However, Saskatchewan expects fewer dollars from natural resources.

The budget says oil revenues are expected to be lower, though it anticipates more income from potash alongside stable uranium revenues.

Reiter said it’s hard to predict how surging oil markets due to the Iran war will affect the province’s bottom line in the future.

“If there are extra oil revenues, we’re going to have other pressures (on health care),” he said. “A budget is a snapshot in time. You make the best estimates you can.”

The province is spending $2.5 billion on education, an increase of 2.6 per cent. It says more work is underway to add specialized support classrooms, along with plans for building new schools.

On policing, the province is planning to spend $310 million to support RCMP and First Nations forces. There is also more funding to hire more officers under the province’s marshals service.

Total capital spending is $4.3 billion, down by $313 million from the year prior.

Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck said the budget is bad news for residents. “Everything your family needs is more expensive and there’s no new cost-of-living relief in this budget,” Beck told reporters.

New Democrats have called on the province to cut the gas tax as the Iran war has pushed up prices at the pump.

The NDP has also said the Saskatchewan Party government can’t be trusted with the numbers, as they promised a surplus in the previous fiscal year.

The current fiscal year’s budget, which wraps up at the end of the month, is set to record a $1.2-billion deficit despite the province initially projecting a $12-million surplus.

“Let’s open the books,” Beck said.

“The people of this province don’t always get full value or get value from the money that’s been spent.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2026.

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan introduces budget with spending hikes but also $819-million deficit

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