2025 June

Your 2024 financial statements are due to the Ministry of Government Relations by July 1, 2025 (September 1, 2025, if a city).

If your municipality anticipates it will need more time to submit its 2024 financial statements, your council may pass an extension of time bylaw for financial statements.

That bylaw:

• Must be passed within 30 days after the time set in the provincial legislation has expired – no later than July 31, 2025 (October 1, 2025, if a city).
• The bylaw may extend the time specified by the provincial legislation by no more than 90 days – no later than September 29, 2025 (November 30, 2025, if a city).

A certified copy of the bylaw, the reason for submitting a late financial statement, and the expected financial statement submission date should be emailed to the ministry at financialstatements@gov.sk.ca. This email address can also be used to ask for more information.

The submission of financial statements to the ministry is required by provincial legislation and used as a qualifying factor for grant funding, including the Municipal Revenue Sharing and the Canada Community-Building Fund programs.

The Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP) helps Saskatchewan communities recover from natural disasters and assists with damages for uninsurable, essential property.

Your local authority (city, town, First Nation, village, resort village, rural municipality or provincial park) must apply to be approved for PDAP support for your community or its residents.

Eligibility

Declaring a local emergency does not make the local government authority eligible for PDAP. For your community to be eligible for PDAP assistance, your local authority must apply to be designated following the processes as described below.

A local authority has three options available when it comes to designating:

1. Designate and apply for assistance for both municipal damages and private damages.
2. Designate and apply for assistance for only municipal damages (if there are no private damages).
3. Designate and apply for assistance for only private damages (no municipal deductible will be required).

PDAP will assist local authorities with extraordinary non-insurable costs which may include the following:

• Repairing or replacing damaged infrastructure, such as a damaged bridge
• Costs related to setting up temporary operations while displaced or evacuated
• Security for evacuated communities
• Pre-emptive measures, such as sandbagging, firebreaks, fireguards and sprinklers

PDAP is not a substitute for private insurance, nor does it provide full compensation for losses.

How to Apply

The local government authority (i.e. the municipality or First Nation Band Council) should contact PDAP at 1‑866‑632‑4033 if a natural disaster arises or is likely to arise, and PDAP will advise the local authority on how to access the program.

To be designated as an eligible assistance area, the local authority will need to:

1. Ask PDAP officials for a Request for Designation form.
2. Pass a Resolution of Council or Band Council Resolution.
3. Mail PDAP the completed Request for Designation Form and a true, certified copy of a Resolution of Council or Band Council Resolution. Make sure to include:
   1. The dates of the disaster.
   2. Whether the local authority is applying for:
      – Both municipal damages and private damages.
      – Municipal damages only (if there are no private damages).
      – Private damages only (no municipal deductible will be required).
   3. Estimated amount of damage. Estimates over $250,000 require descriptions of damages so an appropriate assessor can be assigned (i.e. three culverts and two bridges washed out).
   4. If the local authority plans to designate for private property damage, include an estimate of the number of residents affected.

For further information, please call 1-866-632-4033 or visit PDAP on the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency’s website.

An updated advisory on farm buildings has recently been published by the Building and Technical Standards branch.

This new version helps to clarify when a building should be considered a farm building and would therefore be exempt from construction standards. The advisory also contains a flowchart that helps to clarify the decision-making process when considering if a building is a farm building or not.

If you have any questions about the advisory or would like to discuss the farm building exemption from construction standards, please contact Building and Technical Standards branch at 306-787-4113 or btstandards@gov.sk.ca.

All municipalities are now able to phase in municipal property tax shifts that occur because of the revaluation. Previously, only cities could use tax phase-in.

The Ministry of Government Relations is informing municipalities that additional information on tax phase-in is now available on saskatchewan.ca. This update offers municipalities guidance on how tax phase-in operates including the steps, legislative references and examples.

The ministry encourages municipal officials, administrators and elected councils to review the updated information to better understand tax phase-in provisions.

Information can be found under Municipal Property Tax Tools and Other Taxes and this fact sheet. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to the ministry at 306-787-2653 or property.tax@gov.sk.ca.

In March, the Government of Saskatchewan announced a number of actions in response to the U.S.-imposed tariffs to ensure that provincial government procurement prioritized Canadian suppliers. While global trade continues to fluctuate, the Government of Saskatchewan will be returning to its standard procurement processes as of June 9. This reversion will reduce the administrative burden to government while continuing to make every effort to support Saskatchewan and Canadian businesses.

The Ministry of Government Relations extends its thanks to all municipalities and communities who continue to make similar efforts to support Saskatchewan and Canadian goods and services.