Quint Development

Experts and those with lived experience remind us that Indigenous homelessness is a reflection of ongoing colonial harm and willfully neglected treaty relationships.

Opinion: Child poverty is deepening in Saskatchewan The Saskatchewan Party government has not really made an attempt to seriously address poverty for more than a decade.

In 2023, 78,050 children under the age of 18 in Saskatchewan were in poverty, a child poverty rate of 27.1% This is well above Canada’s national child poverty rate of 18.3% and is the highest child poverty rate of all the provinces. By @simonenoch.bsky.social #skpoli leaderpost.com/opinion/lett...

Slaying myths about income support Rising food insecurity shows Canada’s affordability crisis is real. Income supports fuel inflation or discourage work.

In a new piece for @irpp.org Policy Options, @shaimaayassin.bsky.social, @rsamson.bsky.social and I examine some of the most persistent myths surrounding income supports in Canada — and what the evidence actually shows.

policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/02/inco...

There is no lack of passionate people or proven solutions but there IS a critical lack of accurate knowledge, fairly distributed resources, and political will.

Party with us 🤘

We have more renters than ever before and our gov'ts aren't introducing proper regulations to protect them or investing enough in non-market housing. Leaving people to rely on private landlords and corps for their housing -- subjected to racism, classism, unsafe conditions, and unaffordable prices.

On contentious issues like crime, immigration, and housing — regular citizens must be armed with the ability to separate fact from fiction.

Maytree just released a new report on poverty stating "if we want to make real progress on poverty, we must ensure that work pays enough to live with dignity and that income supports and employment regulations are designed to reflect the realities of the working poor."

maytree.com/wp-content/u...

Is housing really a priority when Canada's federal budget looks like this?? The poor little housing hedgehog at $1.6 billion and Old Age Security at $28.3 billion (20% of which goes to seniors with household incomes above $100K). Budgets are a statement of values. action.gensqueeze.ca/fix_oas

New tallies found at least 1,931 people are experiencing homelessness in Saskatoon this year — that's 432 more than 2024. So let's get our facts straight about this urgent issue 🤝

Housing is the word on everyone's lips, but we are still creating only a fraction of the number of affordable housing units we used to. The difference is even more stark if you look back a few decades.

We have the collective power necessary to push for just solutions to our shared socio-economic crises — we just have to use it 💭

This month, the City of Saskatoon published the findings from their annual Civic Satisfaction and Performance survey. To us, these statistics are a reminder that we have the strength of numbers on our side.

However, addressing the failure of Canada's housing system will require more than just new investments — our housing policies need to dramatically shift toward preserving the right to housing over the desire to profit.

The federal budget is out! Promising $1.5 billion for maintaining our current affordable housing stock, $2.8 billion for Indigenous housing, and $1 billion for transitional and supportive housing.

Our country loses an estimated $3.65 billion in tax revenue every single year because they allow offshore tax avoidance. Furthermore, polls have found that over 90% of Canadians support addressing tax havens.

The billionaire loophole: How Canada’s tax system fuels inequality While ordinary Canadians struggle, the top one per cent hide billions in offshore tax havens — a colonial system engineered to protect wealth and starve public services

As we wait for the federal budget to be released, here's a reminder that we could have both well-funded public services and a healthy economy. Our government would have billions more dollars for improving our public services if they closed Canada's tax haven loopholes. ricochet.media/labour/class...

They urged policymakers to tackle the crisis by “drastically expanding affordable housing supply, prioritizing investments in Indigenous, Black, and community-led housing projects" and “dismantling systemic barriers, enhancing tenant protections, and improving enforcement against discrimination."

This fall, @bcpolicy.bsky.social published a new report on racial inequality in Canada's housing market.

Poverty isn't just a social issue; it's also an economic issue. Ending poverty will strengthen our communities and our economy.

If you're struggling to afford daily necessities, you are not alone. The high concentration of wealth is not an individual failure; it's a policy failure.

These stats come from an assessment of people living in private sector, for-profit housing. Like many other communities across the globe, our city is in urgent need of more social and affordable housing. Any community is only as strong as its ability to support its most vulnerable members.

The City of Saskatoon's 2025 Housing Report shared that these populations are most likely to live in housing that needs major repairs, costs more than they can afford, or is too small for the number of inhabitants.

Protecting children and youth means better meeting the needs of entire families and communities. The mission to end cycles of childhood trauma and abuse is interconnected with ending the cycles of poverty, problematic substance use, child removal, and homelessness.

Food for thought 💸

We each have a responsibility to ensure that our leaders know we expect justice for Indigenous communities to be a priority 365 days a year.

The Stark Reality Ten Years after the Truth and Reconciliation Report | The Walrus “We have to wonder: should we just abandon ‘reconciliation’ altogether?”

A decade after the TRC, the gov't has only completed 15/95 Calls to Action. However, researchers found that when more public attention is focused on reconciliation (ex. directly after the discovery of unmarked graves), the gov't addresses more of the Calls to Action. thewalrus.ca/trc-introduc...

'Unique people doing a unique thing': Saskatoon programs offer second chance for people leaving corrections Saskatoon programs provide work — ranging from needle pickup to graffiti removal — to people who are trying to turn their lives around.

“Sometimes I feel that this is the best chance we get at a better life."

Thank you to Brody Langager and Michelle Berg from the Star Phoenix for helping us to spread the word about our initiatives.

thestarphoenix.com/news/local-n...

Climate disasters such as wildfires and extreme heat will continue to worsen social and economic inequality until Canada takes real steps to fight climate change and sufficiently mitigate its impact on our communities.

Canada needs a climate-responsive social safety net For anyone already struggling, chaotic disaster responses increase vulnerability and the risk of poverty, health crises and death.

The photo that accompanies this article was taken here in Saskatchewan — people have been falling through the cracks of our disaster response systems (and our regular systems) for years. policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/09/clim...