Municipalities across Saskatchewan will now have year-round access to a key funding program that supports regional collaboration and community development.
The Saskatchewan government has announced that applications for the Targeted Sector Support (TSS) Initiative are now being accepted on a continual basis, with reviews conducted monthly. The change eliminates deadlines and is expected to encourage more municipalities to apply for funding in partnership with neighbouring communities.
"The Government of Saskatchewan is pleased to support the TSS Initiative and its move to a year-round application period," Government Relations Minister Eric Schmalz said. "By removing application deadlines, I am confident we can encourage more municipalities to partner with their neighbours and pursue important regional projects."
The TSS Initiative offers financial support through four streams: capacity building, regional co-operation, municipal corporate transition, and relationship building and dispute resolution. Up to $1.5 million is available each year from the Municipal Revenue Sharing program, with eligible projects able to receive up to 75 per cent of costs, to a maximum of $100,000.
Since its launch in 2020, the TSS Initiative has allocated $5.5 million to 149 projects, ranging from governance training and regional land use planning to inter-municipal emergency management and feasibility studies for forming municipal districts.
The program is managed by the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) on behalf of a steering committee that also includes the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), the Saskatchewan Association of Northern Communities (New North), and the Ministry of Government Relations.
"Cooperation is essential in the municipal world, especially as the costs of building and maintaining infrastructure and services has steadily increased over the past few years," SUMA President Randy Goulden said. "The TSS provides an important source of funding to fuel these cooperative initiatives and get more done with less."
SARM is also encouraging rural municipalities to take advantage of the expanded intake process.
"SARM continues to encourage rural municipalities in Saskatchewan to take advantage of the Targeted Sector Support funding for cooperative regional projects," SARM President Bill Huber said. "We hope the new continuous application intake process offers our members additional opportunities to utilize this valuable resource to further inter-municipal collaboration within their communities."
More information and the application portal are available on the Government of Saskatchewan’s website.