Saskatoon Tribal Council shelter will face cuts after new proposed shelter opens: province

The proposed downtown location for the city’s newest homeless shelter is drawing criticism from the chief of the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC), which runs the city’s largest emergency shelter.

The City of Saskatoon announced the proposed location on Friday — a former Saskatchewan Transit Company parcel depot behind the old bus station on Pacific Avenue destined to be renovated with a $250,000 commitment from the province.

“Is 30 beds really going to make a difference,” STC Chief Mark Arcand asked reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Or, do we invest in the 135 to 200 people a night and get them into services through [the emergency wellness centre], through Salvation Army, and through other programs that are already established and say, guys, we have more of an impact with the warmup shelters for the winter; guaranteed from the province.”

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Arcand says the city and the province missed an opportunity by not consulting STC in their choice, given the knowledge the organization has gained through its operation of the wellness centre, a drop-in shelter with a capacity around 106 beds.

He says they’ve been on the front lines of the homelessness crisis for two years at the Fairhaven shelter, and he expressed some concerns that this new shelter opening will mean the province cuts funding to the wellness centre.

In a statement to CTV News on Wednesday afternoon, the Ministry of Social Services confirmed it was looking to reduce the capacity at the Fairhaven shelter as it looks to move toward "a model of smaller shelters going forward."

"Aligned with that principle, the Ministry of Social Services plans to decrease spaces at the Saskatoon Tribal Council wellness centre in the future."

The revelation that the opening of 30 new spaces downtown means the province intends to cut spaces elsewhere in the city undermines the commitments it made in October 2023, when it pledged to open 60 new spaces in Saskatoon to tackle the homelessness crisis.

The ministry said the timing of the cuts to the STC's shelter capacity won't be determined until it can assess the impact of the new temporary spaces opening in Saskatoon.

"We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure there are enough spaces available for people experiencing homelessness in Saskatoon over the winter. This may mean that spaces at the Saskatoon Tribal Council wellness centre are maintained during the winter months."

In his statements to the media Wednesday, Arcand also took issue with the Pacific Avenue location. He said the STC’s first shelter was downtown and they were moved to another location after they met resistance.

The province has opted to hire the Alberta-based Christian non-profit the Mustard Seed to run the shelter, but Arcand questions why the STC wasn’t consulted about providing a shelter service that meets the specific cultural needs of Indigenous people, given the high proportion of Indigenous people among the city’s unhoused population. 

CTV News asked the Ministry of Social Services why it chose the Mustard Seed to operate the new Saskatoon shelter and not a local organization. It said the Mustard Seed won the role was part of a public request for proposals process.