REGINA — In the wake of a Regina special council meeting, Opposition New Democrats are once again calling for the removal of the PST on municipal infrastructure projects.
Opposition Energy critic Sally Housser raised the concerns on Friday, one day after the Regina special council meeting in which city council passed a resolution calling on the province to “consider enabling municipalities to access alternative revenue options, including but not limited to new or improved taxation alternatives.”
At that meeting, council also called for the PST to be removed from construction costs. Housser said she agreed.
“(Premier) Scott Moe is downloading costs and responsibilities onto municipalities. And unlike Scott Moe, municipalities don’t have the leverage and ability to just keep piling on, piling on debt. So they’re really in a bind in this respect,” said Housser.
“And you know what’s worse? Not only is Scott Moe and his government making it more expensive for municipal ratepayers, he’s actually taxing them for trying to create jobs while Saskatchewan is in a jobs crisis. We lost 4,000 jobs in December alone. The Saskatchewan population is declining for the first time in 20 years. And still the Sask Party is continuing to charge PST on municipal infrastructure projects.”
Housser pointed to what she described as a “massive infrastructure deficit” throughout the province, particularly in major cities.
“We know we need to fix the roads. We know we need to fix the pipes. And making it so that there’s PST on those very critical infrastructure projects is just piling on more difficulty to the municipal governments. Continuing to charge PST on municipal infrastructure projects makes projects more expensive, which makes it harder for cities to build. It costs builders more than $480 million annually. And it’s a vicious cycle that hurts municipal governments, hurts residents, hurts companies, and hurts jobs.”
She accused Scott Moe of collecting PST to use “as his personal piggy bank to cover the fiscal disaster he’s created.”
When asked about the government’s likely counter-argument that PST revenue would be directed to hospitals, schools and critical infrastructure, Housser rejected that explanation.
“You know, something is not adding up with this government,” said Housser.
“Scott Moe alone, in eight short years, has doubled our debt from $20 billion to $40 billion. And we’ve seen them raise PST massively, not only on construction but on kids’ clothes, on groceries. And what do we have to show for it? We have the worst health outcomes in the country. We have some of the worst educational outcomes in the country. And we have the highest financial anxiety of any province in the country. So something is not adding up here. It would be one thing to say, well, we’re piling on the debt and we’re getting all these things fixed and we’re building new roads and bridges and everything like that, but that’s not happening, and we’re just seeing the debt ballooning. We need to see a level of fiscal responsibility and prudent management from this government, which they have failed to do for years and years and years.”
As for concerns raised by the City of Regina, Housser said she has heard similar issues raised across the province.
“Absolutely. I’ve heard it from my counterparts at Regina City. I’ve heard it from folks in Saskatoon. But I’ve heard it from basically every municipality, large and small, across this province. Any time you’re at SUMA or SARM, it’s the one thing repeatedly over and over and over again. Our municipalities are getting squeezed. And it’s one thing that this provincial government is always baffling to me. I’m never sure what they’re actually responsible for. It always seems to be somebody else’s fault and somebody else’s problem, whether it’s the feds or the municipal. Unless it’s them standing there to cut a ribbon, they don’t seem to be responsible for anything that happens in this province.”
She also pointed to what she described as the downloading of costs onto municipalities, including policing and addressing mental health, addictions and homelessness.
“It’s hurting small businesses, it’s hurting job creation, and it’s hurting, frankly, people’s quality of life in our urban centres.”
In a statement, the Sask Party government said it is “committed to working with and supporting municipalities in Saskatchewan.”
The government said a broad application of PST “ensures that a fairly applied, reliable and sustainable source of revenue is available to fund the many public services provided by our government including grants to the municipal sector, infrastructure investment, healthcare and education. Municipal Revenue Sharing — which is based on a percentage of provincial PST revenues — allows municipalities to receive funding predictably and with no strings attached. Municipalities have received over $2.2 billion from Municipal Revenue Sharing since 2017-18.”
The province also noted that municipalities in Saskatchewan, including cities, have the authority to establish their own property tax policies in accordance with municipal legislation. It added that municipal legislation allows municipalities to use alternative revenue sources, including but not limited to special taxes, as well as various fees and charges.
The government said it “regularly reviews and amends legislation for municipalities and introduced general amendments in the fall 2025 session. For future reviews, all cities and municipalities are welcome to propose additional revenue sources and taxation arrangements, and the province will engage with them on exploring alternatives.”
