The Saskatchewan government set aside $3.45 million in last week’s provincial budget announcement for security measures at emergency shelters in Regina and Saskatoon.
The funding announcement comes just after Regina residents starting voicing concerns around a new complex-needs emergency shelter slated for the city.
The shelter is part of an 18-month pilot project, but city residents are concerned about the location of the facility.
The current plans have the shelter located in Regina’s McNab community. The shelter would be right next to the Orr Daycare centre, Luther High School and a seniors complex.
The shelter will provide a space for unhoused people with mental health and addictions issues. The shelter will also be a place for police to bring people that have been arrested for public intoxication, where they will be kept for up to 24 hours.
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The 2024-25 provincial budget announced that the Ministry of Social Services will provide $3.45 million to third-party services to help keep communities safe. No details have been released.
Regina Ward 8 residents voiced their concerns at a meeting with its councilor, saying they are worried about the future of the neighbourhood.
Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak told Global News on Monday that there are still outstanding questions around how the new security will work in tandem with Regina police.
“It’s an important investment, but how it’s going to work is, I think, still to be determined,” Zachidniak said.
At a community meeting earlier in the month, Regina resident Barb Shields said she is concerned drug paraphernalia could end up close to the daycare.
“With a daycare facility right there, it concerns me people could be throwing a needle over the fence or other things,” Shields said.
“And does that leave the daycare having to check the property every morning? No one wants a child to be exposed to something like that, especially at their daycare.”
Saskatoon has been dealing with similar concerns from city residents since the opening of an emergency shelter in a residential neighbourhood in 2022.
The Emergency Wellness Centre located in the Fairhaven neighbourhood has been criticized and blamed for the rising crime rates in the area.
“It really shook up the neighbourhood,” said Saskatoon Ward 3 city councillor David Kirton. “If there were people with complex needs who created problems within the shelter, they were booted out but with no plan on release so they ended up in the neighbourhood.”
Saskatoon Tribal Council chief Mark Arcand closed the wellness centre’s doors to individuals with complex needs in October 2023.
“I am hopeful that that has created a bit of a better situation in Fairhaven, but it is not perfect yet,” Kirton said.
He said that it’s important for shelters to have plans on how to safely release users of shelters who might be non-compliant, without having a negative impact on the surrounding homes.
Zachidniak said there is a meeting scheduled Tuesday between Regina city officials and the shelter operating group.
— with files from Global News’ Andrew Benson.
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