The Saskatchewan government has ambitious plans to improve aging infrastructure and build new facilities, but those hinge on whether there are enough people and equipment to do the work.
Last week’s provincial budget pledged $1 billion to the Ready for Growth infrastructure plan, calling it the largest capital investment in Saskatchewan history.
Finance minister Rod Gantefoer said the province has to avoid the pitfalls of rapid growth.
“In other places we’ve seen the problems and the pressures that can arise when an aging infrastructure fails to keep up the pace of growth,” he said. “Those same pressures are now emerging in Saskatchewan. Simply put, while Saskatchewan is ready for growth, our infrastructure is not.”
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The province typically budgets about $600 million annually for base capital funding so only a portion of the $1 billion is new money.
This year’s capital budget is actually $829 million, up about $294 million from last year.
Gantefoer said that’s because there isn’t enough capacity to get the work all done in one season.
About $170 million in highway projects won’t be done unless workers and equipment are available.
Saskatchewan Construction Association president Michael Fougere agreed all the work can’t be done in one year.
David Marit, president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, said capacity is a concern.
“We’ve had such an infrastructure deficit over the last 10, 15 years and we know they can’t recapture it all in one year,” he said.
But the development in rural Saskatchewan in the mining and energy sectors demands that the road network be upgraded, he said.
“I can’t remember a government that has made such a massive investment … in its first budget,” said premier Brad Wall. “We’re not waiting for an election year. The investment needs to be made now.”
Highways will get an extra $35 million for projects this year that include the completion of twinning on Highways 1 and 16, and continued twinning of Highway 11.
Three hundred kilometres of highway are scheduled for upgrades.
The health capital budget will get $100 million more to improve facilities around the province, including the new Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory, the Humboldt hospital and other facilities.
The education capital budget also got an extra $100 million this year for 11 school projects in Balcarres, Duck Lake, La Ronge, Oxbow, Porcupine Plain, Humboldt, Maple Creek, Prince Albert, Regina and Saskatoon.
Upgrades already in the works at Norquay, Naicam, Gravelbourg, Yorkton, Prince Albert and Saskatoon will all be completed.
Audrey Trombley, chair of the South East Cornerstone School Division, said she was delighted to hear of the capital funding increase.
“(The Oxbow project) was approved in 2003, and year after year the money wasn’t there for us to proceed,” she said. “We’re in dire need of completing that project.”
Trombley said she would wait for details about the new $1 million Schools of Opportunity Fund, which is intended to help communities experiencing economic growth keep their schools open.
