2025-26 Provincial Budget: Delivering for You

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Sask Legislative building with Wascana Lake in the foreground.

On March 19, 2025, the Honourable Jim Reiter, Minister of Finance, delivered the 2025–26 Provincial Budget: Delivering for You. The province’s revenue is projected to increase by $1.2 billion from last year to a total of $21.1 billion, driven mainly by increased corporate income tax, PST and uranium royalties. 

Meanwhile, the province is projected to spend $21 billion this fiscal year, an increase of $909 million from last year’s budget. The province’s debt is projected to increase by $2.5 billion to $38.3 billion.

This year’s provincial budget again brings mixed news for the arts, culture, and creative industries in Saskatchewan. SK Arts received a 1.5% increase ($104,000) and Creative Saskatchewan saw an 11% decrease, a total reduction of $2 million. 

In a statement, Creative Saskatchewan said, “While the industry had hoped for an increased investment, we understand that the government has to take a cautious approach in the uncertain political environment that is our current reality.  Creative Saskatchewan’s production budget remains 5x higher than three years ago. This supports more than 40 projects and will keep our industry busy into the next fiscal year. We will continue to work with the sector to help keep the Saskatchewan film industry growing.” 

The Saskatchewan Arts Alliance (SAA) appreciates the work done by the Honourable Alana Ross and the Ministry of Parks, Culture, and Sport to increase funding to SK Arts to address inflationary pressures. This increase is a positive step in the right direction. However, there is still work to be done.

In 2024, the SAA worked with SK Arts to create a report entitled Envisioning a Fully-Funded SK Arts. This report, developed in consultation with SK Arts leadership and staff, highlights the significant funding shortfall that has persisted over the past 15 years and its impact on artists, arts organizations, and cultural programming across the province. 

The report outlines the urgent need for increased provincial investment in SK Arts of at least $6 million. An additional $6 million investment in SK Arts would represent approximately 0.029% of total government spending. We encourage the provincial government to recognize that sustainable public funding of the arts is a duty and an incredibly affordable investment in terms of overall public spending. 

The arts and culture sector contributes significantly to the province’s economy and is a worthy investment: The GDP generated by arts and culture in SK in 2022 was nearly $1 billion ($990,617,000), and the sector also employs over 12,205 people in Saskatchewan.

Considering the estimated annual economic output of SK Arts’ funded organizations alone contributes approximately $74 million to the province, the overall contribution of arts and culture should not be undervalued.

We also know that over the last five years, arts organizations in Saskatchewan have noticed a troubling trend – audiences aren’t attending events like they used to. The SAA’s “Understanding Arts Audiences” report highlights some key challenges, mainly that cost is a significant barrier for audiences. With rising living expenses and stagnant arts funding, affordability is a concern. 47% of the respondents asked about the most recent art event they did NOT attend stated that tickets or attending the event generally would have been too expensive. 

We were encouraged to see movement around the Active Families Benefit refundable tax credit, raising the income threshold to qualify for it to $120,000 to make children’s sports, arts, cultural and recreational activities more affordable for more Saskatchewan families. 

However, with the ever-rising cost of living and the ongoing tariff war with Trump’s America, it continues to be a difficult time for many people in Saskatchewan. It is important to remember that the arts are critical in bettering the quality of life for those living in this province and that the people of Saskatchewan value arts and culture; in fact, 85% of Saskatchewanians agree that “arts and cultural activities in a community make it a better place to live.”

The following are excerpts from the Parks, Culture, and Sport section of the 2025-26 Estimates. Links to other budget documents can be found here.

2025–26 Arts Related Estimates with Comparisons to 2024–25 Estimates

A table titled 'Parks, Culture and Sport Estimates' displays funding estimates for the years 2025-26 and 2024-25, along with percentage increases or decreases. The table focuses on 'Community Engagement' funding allocations. The rows include: 'Community Sport, Culture and Recreation Programs' with funding increasing from $3,100,000 in 2024-25 to $8,450,000 in 2025-26, a 172.6% increase. 'Active Families Benefit' remains unchanged at $389,000,000. 'Heritage Institutions and Saskatchewan Science Centre' remains unchanged at $5,551,000. 'Saskatchewan Arts Board (SK Arts)' sees a 1.5% increase from $6,775,000 to $6,879,000. 'Community Initiatives Fund' remains unchanged at $8,477,000. 'Creative Saskatchewan' funding decreases by 11.0%, from $18,125,000 to $16,125,000. 'Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation' remains unchanged at $308,000. The table uses bold headers for the category and years, with percentage changes listed in a separate column.

For inquiries, please contact:

Em Ironstar
Executive Director, Saskatchewan Arts Alliance
director@saskartsalliance.ca
306-518-7586