{"id":898273,"date":"2026-04-10T12:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/saskatchewan-government-says-its-cutting-ties-with-prairie-harm-reduction\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:21:37","slug":"saskatchewan-government-says-its-cutting-ties-with-prairie-harm-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/saskatchewan-government-says-its-cutting-ties-with-prairie-harm-reduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Saskatchewan government says it\u2019s cutting ties with Prairie Harm Reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Saskatchewan\u2019s provincial government says it\u2019s ending its contract with Saskatoon\u2019s Prairie Harm Reduction<\/a> (PHR), only a few days after its exemption from Health Canada was suspended.<\/p>\n

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In a statement to Global News, the province said it had provided notice to terminate its contract with the supervised consumption site for mental health and addiction services. Other supports, including crisis management and social services like housing, are also being cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government of Saskatchewan does not fund supervised consumption sites,\u201d the government said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The move comes less than a week after Health Canada told Global News it had informed PHR that an exemption allowing it to operate had been suspended due to \u201ca significant funding shortfall and organizational constraints.\u201d The agency says it informed PHR of this decision on March 25.<\/p>\n

It said the site was required to cease operation until further notice.<\/p>\n

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On Monday, the organization announced the suspension, though added its drop-in centre would remain open.<\/p>\n

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The province\u2019s decision to cut ties comes days after Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr wrote a letter on March 25 to federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel, urging PHR\u2019s exemption not be renewed. According to Carr, it was set to expire in March.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe do not provide funding for supervised consumption sites,\u201d Carr wrote. \u201cOur focus remains on supporting individuals facing addictions by prioritizing treatment and a recovery-oriented system of care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The province has provided the organization with annual funding for other services, including $346,000 annually towards \u201coutreach, education and to increase access to take home Naloxone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Social Services also pays $2.181 million for the operation of two semi-independent youth homes and family support services.<\/p>\n

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Global News has contacted Prairie Harm Reduction for comment on the provincial government\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

When Prairie Harm Reduction first announced the suspension on Sunday, it said it was working to have its exemption reinstated.<\/p>\n

The organization said in a news release it remained in close contact with Health Canada and is \u201cactively working\u201d to provide information that\u2019s been requested so the suspension can be lifted.<\/p>\n

Health Canada went on to say there are certain requirements for exemption holders to keep it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to meet the public health and public safety objectives under the CDSA, exemption holders must demonstrate that they have resources available to support the safe and ongoing operation of a supervised consumption site, including adequate funding and organizational capacity,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

In her letter to Michel last week, Carr went on to say it\u2019s heard significant concerns from residents, business owners, and community stakeholders regarding PHR\u2019s current location.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why, she said, her ministry is considering legislation that would restrict where supervised consumption sites may operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould the legislation pass, it will have implications for the current location of Prairie Harm Reduction\u2019s site in Saskatoon,\u201d Carr said.<\/p>\n

Global News has reached out to Health Canada for a response on how the provincial government\u2019s decision to end its contract could impact the suspension of PHR\u2019s exemption.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sean Previl
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saskatchewan\u2019s provincial government says it\u2019s ending its contract with Saskatoon\u2019s Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), only a few days after its exemption from Health Canada was suspended. In a statement to Global News, the province said it had provided notice to terminate its contract with the supervised consumption site for mental health and addiction services. Other<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":898274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[284,44321],"tags":[5170,44320],"class_list":{"0":"post-898273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-government","8":"category-saskatchewan","9":"tag-government","10":"tag-saskatchewan"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}