GSCS board passed balanced budget for 2025-26
Earlier this spring, the Government of Saskatchewan tabled their 2025-26 budget. A month later, on April 17, we received our budget package, and our senior administration has worked to prepare the division’s budget. On June 23, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools’ Board of Education approved a balanced budget to submit to the Ministry of Education.
We thank our financial services staff and our internal budget reference committee (which includes vice-principals, principals, coordinators, and senior administrators) for all their work throughout the process.
For the second year in a row, the provincial budget contains some positive news of increased funding. At the risk of over-simplifying the complex process, we are optimistic that the multi-year funding agreement between the government and the Saskatchewan School Boards’ Association (SSBA) that was signed last year, and the teacher collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was signed this spring, have injected much-needed funding and predictability into the education sector.
THE NUMBERS
The government is adding $186.4 million to the provincial pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 operating budget for 2025-26. This is an 8.4 per cent increase from March 2025 to March 2026 (the government’s budget cycle).
Here’s a brief breakdown of increases:
- $11 million for enrolment growth
- $121 million for the teacher CBA, which includes retroactive salary increases and $67.5 million in complexity funding
- $16.25 million for Specialized Support Classrooms
- $2 million for literacy initiatives
- $38.15 million for transportation, inflationary increases, and increases to non-teacher salaries
For Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, we will receive a $21.5 million increase, including the following:
- $2.3 million for enrolment growth that includes:
- 20 more teachers
- 20 more educational assistants
- Additional transportation routes, student furniture, technology and learning resources
- $2.279 million for Specialized Support Classrooms that includes:
- An interprofessional team of teachers, speech language pathologists and behaviour consultants
- Positive Learning Behaviour (PLB) teams to support multiple schools
- Classroom complexity teachers
- Educational assistants
- Teacher CBA resources:
- 44 full-time teachers (in addition to teachers for growth)
- $2.3 million in complexity funding
Federal funding for educational assistants (EAs) through Jordan’s Principal is no longer available to support staffing for provincially-funded schools. We will reallocate resources from other areas to maintain 89 of these EA positions and decrease the anticipated effect of that loss.
CAPITAL FUNDING: NEW SCHOOLS and MAINTENANCE
For the second straight year, we are getting two new schools: a joint-use elementary school in the Aspen Ridge neighbourhood and an elementary school in the Kensington neighbourhood. While these announcements are years later than we would like, we are thankful that our growth and space constraints are being addressed. Our proposed joint-use middle/high school between Martensville and Warman is on the top of the province’s top 10 capital list, and we are optimistic that will be approved in the following budget cycle.
Our budget for Preventative Maintenance and Renewal (PMR) has increased by 29 per cent ($1.12 million). The majority of PMR funding goes to replace or repair school roofs and HVAC units. We’re proud of the work our staff does to maintain our school facilities, and we are pleased that we will have more resources to maintain our learning environments for students and workplaces for staff.
The detailed 2025-26 budget document will be available on our website at https://go.gscs.ca/budget
Diane Boyko
Board of Education Chair
François Rivard
Director of Education
