The Opposition NDP is raising red flags after the city’s recent Point-in-Time (PiT) count showed a significant increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness.
According to the PiT count — conducted by Square One Community in partnership with Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) — the number of homeless people in Moose Jaw was 150 in 2024, up from 73 in 2023.
“There’s an affordability crisis and people are struggling to find a place to live that they can afford. We just talked to a couple walking down the street this morning, just chatting with us, and they’ve been struggling with houselessness and affordability themselves,” said Shadow Minister for Housing and Saskatoon Westview MLA April ChiefCalf.
ChiefCalf mentioned she was born in Moose Jaw. Her parents were psychiatric nurses who trained at Valley View Centre. They moved when she was two years old, but she still has family in the city.
She said Moose Jaw isn’t the same city she remembers from years ago.
“Visiting here as a child, as a young adult, it was not often I saw homeless people around town. The people of Moose Jaw deserve better. They deserve a government that cares about the health of their community,” she said.
According to a Freedom of Information request obtained by the NDP, there were 63 vacant Saskatchewan Housing Corporation units in Moose Jaw — but only five were available for use.
“That might seem like a small number, but if there are 150 people unhoused, that’s 58 units where people could be living,” ChiefCalf said.
She added that approximately 3,000 vacant public housing units exist across Saskatchewan, many of which are unavailable due to the need for renovations.
“There are thousands of vacant public housing units across Saskatchewan in need of renovations, yet the Sask. Party’s 2025 budget allocated funding to only cover the costs of 285 units,” she said.
ChiefCalf also pointed to a lack of adequate increases to support programs such as Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) and Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS), noting that both received increases of less than $1 per day in the Saskatchewan Party government’s latest budget.
An ongoing concern in Moose Jaw is the absence of a women’s homeless shelter, along with a general lack of shelter beds following the closure of Riverside Mission in August 2023.
ChiefCalf said while shelters are part of the solution, they are not enough.
“Shelters are a short-term solution. This is a crisis that’s growing every year in every community. It’s doubled in Moose Jaw over the last year, and it’s tripled in Saskatoon. So, we know that it’s growing. Affordable housing is one issue. Short-term, they do need shelters. I know in Saskatoon shelters are over capacity,” she said.
Discover Moose Jaw reached out to the Ministry of Social Services and received the following response:
In 2025-26, the Government of Saskatchewan is investing $88.4 million dollars to ensure rent-ready units are available across the province.
This includes an increase of $9.2 million to start multi-year repair and renovation projects for 285 provincially-owned units in Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert.
The Government of Saskatchewan’s social housing vacancy rate has been trending downward since peaking at 20 per cent in November 2021. As of April 2025, the social housing program has improved to an overall vacancy rate of 12.5 per cent. In the coming year, up to 1600 provincially-owned housing units will be repaired and 350 more households will have access to affordable housing.
We are also investing $5 million in the Rental Development Program so we can partner with housing providers to develop new supportive housing units for people who need additional support to live independently.