REGINA – The New Democrats have announced a new engagement tour which they say is aimed at keeping young people from leaving the province.
At a media event outside the University of Regina, Opposition Leader Carla Beck and Noor Burki, MLA for Regina Coronation Park, announced the Your Future, Your Say tour.
The NDP say they have launched the website yourfutureyoursay.ca so people can provide their feedback on how to keep young people in the province, and also said there will be information on upcoming events listed at that website. Beck said they will be holding events in Regina, Moose Jaw, Yorkton and Saskatoon, with more dates and more events to come.
Beck said the goal is “to engage young people about their future and talk to them, build those solutions for young people in this province so that they again see a future for themselves in Saskatchewan, a place and a destination to build their careers, a place to stay or come back and build their families, raise their families right here in Saskatchewan.”
She said the reason behind the launch is because “young people are leaving Saskatchewan at an unprecedented rate.”
She pointed to the StatsCan numbers from December in which Saskatchewan’s population declined for the first time in 20 years, pointing out that “we are losing more young people than any other category.”
“What’s even more alarming is that (Premier) Scott Moe and the Sask Party government haven’t even bothered to ask why, let alone start to fix and provide solutions to keep more young people and attract more young people right here to Saskatchewan. But we’re going to change that.”
Burki pointed to pressures facing young people in the province.
“We know the cost-of-living crisis is having devastating impact on our young people. Four in ten people in Saskatchewan are borrowing money, or taking on debts, just to make ends meet. We need action on housing to lower the cost of food, and to create more good jobs with bigger paychecks. We need to support our public’s education, and ensure it is accessible. And if we do all these things, our young people will stop asking for luggage as graduation gift. They will stay right here, and build their future right in Saskatchewan.”
Government cynical about latest NDP listening tour
In a statement, the Sask Party government ridiculed the latest NDP announcement of another listening tour.
“It’s no wonder Saskatchewan people are having a hard time taking the NDP seriously when they keep announcing plans to make a plan with no action,” they stated.
“For example, last year the NDP stated ‘town halls are being planned in the coming weeks’ for their Your Future, Your Say Immigration Plan. No towns hall occurred. No plan was released.”
They pointed to other examples, including the NDP promising last year to release their Electricity Plan ‘later this fall’ in which no consultation occurred and no plan was released; a province-wide healthcare consultations for their ‘Big Bold Change Plan’ where the government noted only one town hall has occurred and “no big bold changes for healthcare have been released.”
The government said the only tangible action the NDP has committed to is “cutting the Graduate Retention Program which has benefited approximately 90,000 graduates in the province since its inception. Our government recently enhanced the Graduate Retention Program by 20 per cent for post-secondary students who graduate on or after Oct. 1, 2024.”
The government also stated that under the previous Saskatchewan NDP government, “young people were forced to pack their bags and flee to Alberta in pursuit of opportunity.”
As for why the population drop happened in the third quarter of 2025, the government said the population dropped in nine out of 10 provinces “due to a necessary reset in the number of immigrants entering Canada, which had gotten far too high under the Trudeau government and has been scaled back significantly since Prime Minister Carney took office, creating a responsible and sustainable approach to immigration.”
“We continue to be supportive of carefully managed immigration that benefits Saskatchewan’s and Canada’s economy, and we expect Saskatchewan’s population to return to gradual, manageable growth in the future,” the government stated.
