REGINA — The Provincial Auditor Tara Clemett has released her 2025 Report – Volume Two, focusing on a number of highlighted topics.
Child care, the Global Transportation Hub (GTH), AIMS and IT systems, and inspections of special care homes were among the major subjects of this year’s audit.
Here is a rundown of the key topics and recommendations in the December 2025 report:
Canada-wide Early Learning and Childhood Care Agreement
Six performance audits were conducted on government agency processes and three were highlighted by the provincial auditor. One of those reviewed the Ministry of Education's processes to achieve accessibility outcomes in the Canada-wide Early Learning and Childhood Care Agreement with the federal government.
Four recommendations emerged from that audit.
Clemett said the ministry “needs better data tracking and analysis to guide decisions on allocating new childcare spaces and managing early childhood educator supply.”
“For example, the ministry has not consulted with the post-secondary institutions to ensure students are enroled in the early childhood educator training, whether there is enough, even though it has invested in tuition-free training for these educators. The ministry also doesn't track the extent of approved childcare spaces being utilized.”
She said they found 694 instances where spaces were underutilized, “suggesting some spaces may have been approved in areas with low demand or with insufficient qualified educators available.”
“More robust collection and analysis of key data would help determine whether child care is truly accessible across Saskatchewan and whether the ministry is meeting the intent of the agreement.”
Clemett said the ministry also reports progress to senior management, the federal government and the public, but does not track and report all key information required under the agreement. She added the ministry “also needs an ongoing sustainable funding model for the provision of licensed child care in Saskatchewan.”
Processes to inspect special care homes
There were recommendations on the Ministry of Health's processes to inspect special care homes.
Clemett reported they “found inspection frequency and advanced notification do not align with good practice.” She said the ministry “needs to use a risk-based inspection approach that considers reported critical incidents and public complaints to determine inspection priorities and frequency.”
There were also high rates of antipsychotic drugs being administered. Clemett said as of July 2025, nearly 35 per cent of Saskatchewan long-term care residents were given antipsychotic drugs without a diagnosis, well above the national rate of 25 per cent. She said the ministry also did not inspect homes with very high rates — 63 per cent and 59 per cent — of residents potentially receiving antipsychotic drugs inappropriately until over three years after the inspection program began.
Clemett said the ministry does not conduct follow-up inspections to confirm whether non-compliance issues are resolved, with only one independent follow-up inspection conducted since 2022.
In testing 16 inspections, they found it took up to 203 days in some cases to fix critical or high non-compliance issues because of extensions granted by the ministry.
“Regular, risk-based inspections at special care homes and timely follow-up are essential to ensure safe, high-quality care and to maintain public trust,” Clemett said.
IT oversight
The provincial auditor also made five recommendations on how the Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement monitors implementation of IT projects across government.
It was noted that between April 2024 and March 2025, the ministry monitored 20 IT projects with a combined forecast of about $40 million. The audit found that eight projects went over budget and 12 were delivered late.
Improvements are needed to strengthen oversight and support timely intervention, with the auditor citing a lack of formal reporting requirements such as the percentage of projects on time and budget, and risks and issues across projects.
The audit pointed to the Enterprise Business Modernization Project, or EBMP, projected to cost $260 million to fully implement following a $130 million budget overrun and a two-and-a-half-year delay at March 31, 2025.
“This underscores the need for stronger planning, ongoing risk management and effective project analysis.”
Clemett said other recommendations include continually assessing IT project risks and mitigation strategies to support early intervention, and requiring lessons learned at the conclusion of IT projects to inform future implementations.
“Strengthening monitoring processes will help ensure IT projects are delivered on time within budget and meet their objectives, ultimately supporting better public services and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.”
Global Transportation Hub
Concerns were identified at seven government agencies, including the Global Transportation Hub. The auditor found the GTH Authority “did not have well-defined collaboration procedures for major developments at the Hub,” Clemett said.
“Having such procedures would reduce the likelihood of the Authority competing with developers in nearby municipalities, like the City of Regina, for future major land developments. It would also provide a rigorous consultation process to promote transparency.”
That referred to the proposed Costco project in east Regina, where the GTH ended up competing against the city for the development last year.
Northlands College
Concerns were also identified at Northlands College. The provincial auditor found the college did not restrict access to its cheque-signing system to properly segregate duties related to making payments.
“Without this key control, there's an increased risk of inappropriate or fraudulent payments going undetected, as one person may be able to create, approve, and process a payment without involving another person,” said Clemett.
They also found the 2024-25 financial statements “are not reliable because they contain a significant $1.8 million error in the recording of grant revenue.” Northlands College received $1.8 million from the Ministry of Education to fund childcare spaces, but had not begun developing those spaces.
“This means the college had not earned the funding yet and should not have recorded its revenue. Inaccurate financial statements can impact the ability for the college to make informed financial decisions.”
AIMS system
There were concerns from the integrated audit of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, including implementation of the Administrative Information Management System, or AIMS.
Clemett said their review of AIMS user access identified 19 users with the ability to enter and approve invoices.
“The Authority needs to regularly monitor whether users with these conflicting roles actually process payments without involving others,” Clemett said.
It was also noted that in 2025, AIMS created “challenges in preparing sufficient financial reconciliations, such as bank reconciliations.”
SHA “did not consistently maintain approved time cards to support payroll amounts. Proper time card approvals help to manage employee attendance and make sure staff get paid accurately for time worked.”
