Budget by the numbers

  •  Forecasted total revenue of $14.17 billion
  •  Forecasted total spending of $14.80 billion
  •  Forecasted deficit of $685 million

Taxes

  •  Provincial sales tax (PST) increasing from five per cent to six per cent
  •  PST now applies to children’s clothing, restaurant meals, snack foods and insurance premiums
  •  Elimination of exemption for bulk purchases of gasoline; exemption for bulk purchases for diesel fuel down to 80 per cent
  •  Continued exemption for used cars, but value of trade-in no longer deductible in determining the PST on purchase price of new vehicle
  •  Increased tobacco taxes, alcohol markups
  •  Elimination of Employee Tool Tax Credit
  •  Suspension of indexation of Personal Income Tax
  •  Reduction of Labour-Sponsored Venture Capital Tax Credit rate
  •  Increase in Corporation Capital Tax on large financial institutions
  •  Increase of Low-Income Tax Credit by $100 per adult and $40 per child
  •  Government says these changes will add $900 million to incremental tax revenue

Education

  •  Education Property Tax increasing to give 40 per cent of funding to Kindergarten to Grade 12 education
  •  $48.3 million to complete construction projects on sites in Martensville, Regina, Saskatoon and Warman
  •  $43.2 million for maintaining and renewing schools
  •  $21.8 million for ongoing projects
  •  Elimination of personal income tax credits for education and tuition expenses
  •  $55.8 million for child care funding – 889 childcare spaces created
  •  Province’s 28 school divisions given $1.86 billion for school operating funding
  •  $3.5 million in operating funding for libraries

Advanced education

  •  Graduate Retention Program will continue to offer up to $20,000 in income tax credits for graduates living and working in Saskatchewan
  •  $26 million for Student Aid Fund for student grants and loans
  •  $12 million for scholarships
  •  $8 million for Saskatchewan Advantage Grant for Education – which will be suspended on Jan. 1, 2018
  •  Reduction in base operation funding by five per cent for all post-secondary institutions

Health

  •  $5.2 billion for core health services and infrastructure
  •  $15.5 million for the Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan
  •  $155.0 million to continue construction on Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford – Integrated Correctional Facility
  •  $3.5 million for electrical system renewal at Regina hospitals
  •  $6.7 million for the Leader Integrated Health Facility
  •  Special care home fees increasing for some residents
  •  $170 million to Saskatchewan Cancer Agency to provide cancer treatment to patients

Social services

  •  $256 million for Child and Family Programs
  •  $209 million for Disability Programs
  •  First Home Plan for recent graduates suspended

Economy

  •  $1.4 million for Petroleum and Natural Gas Division
  •  $1.0 million for Canada Saskatchewan Job Grant
  •  $25 million for Remediation of Contaminated sites
  •  Elimination of Skills Training Benefit, Student Summer Works
  •  $2.0 million decrease to Adult Basic Education Program – with an effort to standardize length of programs
  •  $2.1 million decrease to the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission

Other

  •  Agriculture budget of $388 million
  •  Saskatchewan Pastures Program ending
  •  Work continuing on 990 kilometres of provincial highways
  •  Province’s 13 commercial shortline railways given first opportunity to buy Saskatchewan’s 900 grain cars as Saskatchewan Grain Corporation ends
  •  Sask. government taking on management of Wascana Centre
  •  Saskatchewan Transportation Company will end May 2017