Critics say that the government’s affordability formula only works for some families
Darrylynn Because it costs too much, Klyne no longer buys fresh fruit. Instead, she buys frozen fruit.
Every dollar is important to the working mother of two in Regina.
“It’s hard right now because of the high cost of living and inflation,” said the 23-year-old who works at the North Central Family Centre in Regina and makes $22 an hour as a housing and outreach support worker.
Klyne said that she can relate to her clients because she saw how hard her father worked to get her family out of poverty.
“I see things from their point of view,” she said.
The Saskatchewan Party government says in its latest budget, which was released on Wednesday, that the province is the most affordable place to live in Canada: When taxes, utilities, and housing costs are added up across the country, the document says, “Overall, Saskatchewan is the most affordable place to live in Canada.”
But some advocates and economists say that only applies to people who are already able to get by.
Compared to other cities, Regina isn’t that big
In its budget for 2023–2024, the government used publicly available data to combine Regina housing costs with provincial utilities and taxes. The staff then looked at how much the same things cost in other cities in Canada.
Saskatchewan is the most affordable province for families of four who own their homes and make more than $75,000 a year, according to provincial data.
It’s the second-cheapest province for single renters who make at least $40,000 a year.
But the 2021 Canadian census shows that the median total income for a single person in Saskatchewan is $42,400. This means that almost half of single people in Saskatchewan don’t meet the province’s affordability formula.
Province uses “pseudo families” as a formul
The head of the economics department at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Joel Bruneau, said that the government’s math is a good way to compare cities in Canada, but it leaves out some facts.
He called the criteria set by the province “fake families.” “It doesn’t show what real people might be going through.”
Even though Saskatchewan is the second-richest province per person in Canada, a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that more than half of the people who live there are worse off financially than they were a year ago.
Bruneau said that even if a family or person meets the criteria, they may have costs that cut into their budget that the province didn’t take into account.
“If you have two young children and are looking for day care, it could be hard. It can be hard to find long-term care for an elderly parent if you are trying to take care of them “he said.
“By saying that we’re affordable for everyone, we kind of hide the fact that a lot of people are struggling,” she said.
On Wednesday, Donna Harpauer, the finance minister of Saskatchewan, said that the budget is meant to help people who really need it.
She said, “We definitely focused on the most vulnerable people. We did this by improving a lot of programs for people with low incomes.”
“We’ve heard that inflation will stop rising, but we’re well aware that it’s still a problem right now.”
Assistance programs got more money
Last year, the province helped people with money problems by giving them $500 checks. This won’t happen this year because the province’s expected surplus of $1 billion for 2023-24 will be used to pay off its debt, which is expected to reach $30.9 billion by the end of March 2024.
Instead, the province put more money into programs that help people with their income. For example, the Saskatchewan Income Support benefit and the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability were each increased by $30 a month.
Peter Gilmer wanted his pay to go up by $300.
“There is a crisis of affordability, and it is much worse for people with low incomes,” said Gilmer, who has worked with poor people for 30 years. He now works for the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry as an advocate.
Gilmer said that it’s not true for everyone that Saskatchewan is the most affordable province in Canada.
“This is especially not true for people living in poverty who have been forced into poverty by the law,” he said, pointing to the fact that income assistance programs in the province have stayed the same.
“Our minimum wage is also the lowest in the country,” he said. The minimum wage in Saskatchewan is $13 an hour.
“So, for working poor people who are stuck with very low wages, it is very hard to keep up with the cost of living today.”