5 things you should know from the 2023-24 provincial budget
5 things you should know from the 2023-24 provincial budget
Saskatchewan Finance Minister Donna Harpauer presented the 2023-24 provincial budget on Wednesday. Here are five things you need to know.
NO TAX INCREASES OR DECREASES
Before the official documents were released, Finance Minister Donna Harpauer provided some insight into this year’s provincial budget on Tuesday and said there would be no provincial tax increases or new taxes. There was also a projected surplus of $1 billion.
Despite that surplus, no tax decreases such as a change to the PST or provincial gas tax was announced.
Last year the province announced a two cent increase to the tobacco tax and added PST to event tickets like Roughriders games and concerts.
AFFORDABILITY, NO 'MOE BUCKS'
In light of the province having a projected surplus of $1 billion, there was not much announced in the way of immediately addressing affordability concerns. In 2022, Saskatchewan residents were sent one-time payments of $500 to address record inflation and affordability issues.
The province did not announce a resurrection of the one-time affordability payments but said Saskatchewan remains one of the most affordable places to live in Canada.
$518M FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS
The province said $518 million is going to be spent on mental health and addiction programs and services.
A total of $438.4 million will be dedicated to mental health, with the remaining $79.2 million set to be spent on improving addiction services.
The province said the goal is to attract larger projects to Saskatchewan.
TWINNING PROJECTS ON HIGHWAYS 6 AND 39
The province said that $422 million will be invested in capital projects this year, one of which includes twinning projects on Highways 6 and 39 south of Regina, part of the route many consider to be Saskatchewan's main connection to the U.S.
In a news release, the province said portions of Highways 6 and 39 near Rowatt, Sask. and Corinne, Sask. will begin to be twinned this year. The finished project will result in a longer twinned route from Regina to Weyburn.
Overall, the province said this year’s budget will improve more than 1,000 kilometres of highways in Saskatchewan.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
What happens to the brain when you take gravity away? According to a new study looking at astronauts both before and after space travel, that experience causes physical changes that researchers believe requires at least three years between longer missions to recover from.
As wildfires rage across Canada in what’s being called an unprecedented season, one expert says there’s more that individuals and communities can do to adapt and prevent forest fires from causing widespread devastation.
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday.
A man who killed his ex-wife’s cousin will spend life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, a judge decided on Thursday at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.
Two years after two statues were knocked down and damaged at the Manitoba Legislature, one is now back up and Indigenous leaders are upset by the decision.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
Video has surfaced showing a Mississauga, Ont. transit bus plowing into stopped traffic in a crash that left one person dead and at least eight injured on Thursday morning.
As interest rates continue to rise, the cost of buying a house in Ottawa and across Canada is becoming more expensive. Many homeowners are now forced to extend their mortgage payments.
Tumbler Ridge, a community with a population of 2,400 in northeastern B.C., has been ordered to evacuate Thursday due to the danger posed by an encroaching wildfire.
A day after the NDP government presented its 30-point plan to address the crisis at Surrey Memorial Hospital, the official Opposition is pledging to build a tower, while acknowledging their role in the situation.
Quebec's precarious wildfire situation is expected to remain stable over the next 48 hours but residents displaced by the raging forest fires likely won't be able to return home until early next week, Premier Francois Legault said Thursday.
An Ontario man charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the death of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of the late Montreal Mafia associate Moreno Gallo, was arrested the day after the killing in Ontario on unrelated drug charges, public records show.
The mayor of Port Alberni says she does not expect the highway to reopen for several days at least, and she is asking the province to open more forestry roads to truck in much-needed supplies to communities west of the wildfire.
New Brunswick students under the age of 16 who identify as trans and non-binary won't be able to officially change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent.
The Halifax Regional Municipality says it will announce Thursday when more residents can return to their homes in communities impacted by the Tantallon wildfires.
A $100 million class action lawsuit launched on behalf of alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy on Manitoulin Island has been abandoned after the victims reached individual settlements with the church.
Scoring the opening goal of game three of the Stanley Cup finals wasn’t the only celebration Florida Panthers defenceman Brandon Montour was a part of this week.
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have been looking at ways to breed dairy cows that burp out less methane, a harmful greenhouse gas emission contributing to climate change.
