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Freelaw
"Freelaw® is free, unlimited access to up-to-date electronic versions of all Government of Saskatchewan Public and Private Acts, Regulations, The Saskatchewan Gazette, Forms, Rules of Court and Historical legislation - all fully downloadable and searchable in Portable Document Format (PDF)"

Legislative Assembly
Assembly Publications - Hansard, Journals Papers, Bills
Members, including links to Liberal and NDP Caucus pages

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Executive Council

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Department of Social Services
(name changed Nov/07, formerly Community Resources)
- incl. links to : * Services for Children and Families /* Services for People with Disabilities * Services for Low-income People * About Saskatchewan * About Government * About Social Services * Archived News Releases * Common Questions * Ministry Overview * Forms & Publications * Legislation * Office of Disability Issues * Programs & Services * Saskatchewan Housing * much more...

Social Services is the Department responsible for welfare in Saskatchewan.

Name of the welfare program
Saskatchewan Assistance Program
Transitional Employment Allowance (TEA)

Legislation
Saskatchewan Assistance Act
NOTE: the links below take you to the front page for each reg - from that page, just click the "Open Document" button to open a PDF file with the regulation
- Saskatchewan Assistance Regulations ===> main welfare regulations
- Employment Supplement Regulations
- Benefit Adjustment Regulations
- Transitional Employment Allowance Regulations
- Rental Housing Supplement Regulations
- Disability Housing Supplement Regulations
- Saskatchewan Assistance Plan Supplementary Health Benefits Regulations

Policy Manual
Saskatchewan Assistance Program Policy Manual Online (PDF file)
Transitional Employment Allowance Policy Manual (PDF file)

Welfare statistics
No statistics available on the Social Services website
- See Number of People on Welfare, March 1995 to March 2005 (PDF file - 133K, 1 page)
Source: National Council of Welfare

Welfare rates (benefits)
Current Social Assistance Rates (PDF file)
See also section 25 of the Saskatchewan Assistance Regulations
Chapter 15 of the SAP Policy Manual Online (see link above) offers information on individual items of need and special needs, but no rate tables
Transitional Employment Allowance Rate Schedule (PDF file)

Latest search results on Google.ca for
"welfare, -child, -animal, Saskatchewan"
- Web search results
- News search results
- Blog search results

Related Links

2006-2007 Annual Report (PDF file - 816K, 33 pages)
Saskatchewan Income Plan (for seniors)
Provincial Training Allowance
Family Health Benefits - provides benefits for families eligible for the Saskatchewan Child Benefit and families eligible for the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement
Current Issues Surrounding Poverty and
Welfare Programming in Canada : Two Reviews (PDF file - 371K, 43 pages) - August 2003
- interesting comparison of recent welfare reforms in Saskatchewan, Canada, the U.S. and Britain
- includes a bonus ten-page article entitled Low Income Cut-Offs (LICO) and Poverty Measurement (LICO, Market Basket Measure, etc.)
TIP===> See the appendix to this report (pp 27-31) for a detailed comparison of the main features of the "old" Saskatchewan Assistance Plan (welfare) and the new Transitional Employment Allowance.
Source: Social Policy Research Unit (SPR) [ School of Social Work - University of Regina ]

Saskatchewan Community Resources
2006-2007 Annual Report (PDF file - 816K, 33 pages)

For more information about welfare in other Canadian jurisdictions,
see the Canadian Social Research Links Key Provincial/Territorial Welfare Links page

From Saskatchewan Social Services:
PROVINCE LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
News Release
May 13, 2009
Beginning this fall, thousands of Saskatchewan people will no longer need to depend on social assistance for their basic living costs, following the announcement today of a new income support program for people with disabilities. (...) The new program will begin on October 1, 2009, when the first group of recipients - an estimated 3,000 Saskatchewan people with disabilities - will be enrolled and begin to receive benefits. The initial group will be individuals currently on social assistance with long-standing and well-documented disabilities. Over time, enrollment in the new program is expected to reach between 8,000 and 10,000 people.
Questions and answers about
the new Disability Income Support Program (PDF - 38K, 4 pages)
Final Recommendations of the
Task Team on Income Support for People with Disabilities (PDF - 218K, 17 pages)
May 13, 2009
Appendices to the
Final Recommendations of the Task Team on Income Support for People with Disabilities (PDF - 815K, 133 pages)
May 2009
See also:
Office of Disability Issues
The Office of Disability Issues serves as a focal point for government initiatives on disabilities. The Office is a vehicle for collaboration and partnership with the disability community.
The Ministry of Social Services hosts the Office
[ Information Materials (reports & resources) ]
Source:
Saskatchewan Social Services
Related links:
Response to Government Announcement:
People with Significant Disabilities See an End to Welfare
An historic step was taken by the Government of Saskatchewan towards improving the lives of people with disabilities yesterday. Minister of Social Services, Donna Harpauer, announced that a separate, dignified income system for people of disabilities would be launched on October 1, 2009.
Source:
Saskatchewan Disability Income Support Coalition (DISC)
DISC was formed by a large cross section of disability advocates, consumers and organizations across Saskatchewan who are committed to advocating for a respectful, dignified and adequate income support system. DISC members have joined together to speak as one voice, working towards a distinct (or separate) income system for people with disabilities that will be built on our common vision and principles.
DISC Resources
- incl. links to :
*A Question of Citizenship - The Argument for Adequate Income Support for People with Disabilities
* DISC Survey Report - A survey of Saskatchewan citizens with disabilities who utilize social assistance was conducted in the winter of 2007. The purpose of this research was to capture stories about the experience of being on social assistance as a person with a disability and to identify their suggestions for change.
* Conclusions from a Review of Eligibility Requirements in Income Security Programs in Canada
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Sask. introducing income support program for people with disabilities
May 13, 2009
Saskatchewan people with disabilities who can't earn income will no longer have to go on social assistance but will instead have their own tailored income-support program, the provincial government said Wednesday. While it won't immediately mean more money for people with disabilities, improvements to the program should be easier down the road because the assistance will be targeted, said Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer.
Source:
CBC

Selected news releases:

New exemption will benefit people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities
News Release
September 4, 2008
Individuals with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities in Saskatchewan will be able to better plan for the future, following the exemption of Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs) from social assistance calculations. The exemption means that RDSP assets and income - including funds withdrawn for payment to a beneficiary - will not be included when determining eligibility for the Saskatchewan Assistance Program.
Source:
Saskatchewan Social Services
[ Government of Saskatchewan ]

Context:
In the determination of financial eligibility for needs-tested welfare or disability benefits,
each province and territory decides how it will treat assets and income from various sources, both at the point of application and on an ongoing basis.

Related Links:

Child poverty: setting new goals
November 24, 2004
CAROL GOAR
"Giving up is not an option. But clinging to a faded dream is not a solution.
So today, on the 15th anniversary of his parliamentary resolution to end child poverty by 2000, Ed Broadbent will set a new goal. He will challenge Canadians to reduce the child poverty rate to 5 per cent within 10 years. His new target lacks the tidy finality of the one he persuaded all MPs to endorse on Nov. 24, 1989, shortly before his retirement as leader of the New Democratic Party. It is less ambitious, less appealing.But Broadbent, who returned to active politics this year, believes it is realistic and achievable. He calls it 'a new agenda for a new time.'
The child poverty rate currently stands at 15 per cent. It was 15.2 per cent when Broadbent issued his clarion call 15 years ago."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Complete report:

One million too many: Implementing solutions to child poverty in Canada
2004 report card on child poverty in Canada [pdf, 12pp, 186KB]
November 24, 2004

Source:
Provincial Child Poverty Report Cards: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia
NOTE: click the link above to access current and historical poverty reports for all six provinces.

Source:
Campaign 2000

Current Issues Surrounding Poverty and Welfare Programming in Canada : Two Reviews (PDF file - 371K, 43 pages)
("Race to the Bottom: Welfare to Work Programming in Saskatchewan and its Similarities to Programming in the United States and Britain")
By Garson Hunter, Ph.D & Dionne Miazdyck, Research Assistant
August 2003
- interesting comparison of recent welfare reforms in Saskatchewan, Canada, the U.S. and Britain
- includes a bonus ten-page article entitled Low Income Cut-Offs (LICO) and Poverty Measurement (LICO, Market Basket Measure, etc.)
TIP===> the appendix to this report (pp 27-31) presents a detailed comparison of the main features of the Saskatchewan Assistance Plan (the old Saskatchewan welfare program) and the new Transitional Employment Allowance.

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Saskatchewan Welfare Reform Lacks a New Vision for Social Assistance
News Release
Fraser Institute
January 16, 2003
"Saskatchewan has failed to fundamentally reform welfare and must implement major changes to reduce caseloads, increase the employment and earnings of welfare recipients, and decrease provincial spending on social services, says a new study, Welfare in Saskatchewan: A Critical Evaluation, released today by The Fraser Institute."
NOTE: The news release contains the authors' seven recommendations for reforming the delivery of social services in Saskatchewan.
For the record, I agree with and support recommendation number six - and only recommendation number six (improvement of earnings exemption provisions).

Welfare in Saskatchewan: A Critical Evaluation
Chris Schafer and Jason Clemens
Fraser Institute\
November 2002
Executive Summary -
Complete report (PDF file - 298K, 50 pages)
Source : The Fraser Institute

Even though I disagree fundamentally with the Fraser Institute's view on the "success" of welfare reforms in Saskatchewan, I feel it's important to share this information about how one faction of Canadian society feels about welfare reforms and social programs in general.

The authors state that "[S]askatchewan politicians have chosen not to more fundamentally reform the welfare system, as other Canadian jurisdictions have", referring specifically to the deep welfare cuts in Alberta (1993), Ontario (1995) and BC (2002), provinces that they offer as models for Canadian welfare reform. Ironically, the National Council of Welfare (NCW) applauded the Saskatchewan government back in 1997 for exactly the same reason in Another Look at Welfare Reform : "Compared with some other provinces, Saskatchewan had done better for its welfare recipients by doing nothing." I wrote those words myself, in my role as as principal researcher for the NCW's welfare reform report, and I'm sure that even the harshest social critics of the government of Saskatchewan wouldn't argue that point about welfare in their province in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Another Look at Welfare Reform (Autumn 1997) (large file - 275K - 84 pages if printed)
- looks at welfare reforms in each Canadian jurisdiction in the 1990s
Source : National Council of Welfare

I suspect that the difference in perspective is that the NCW represents the interests of disadvantaged Canadians while the Fraser Institute speaks for the rich and the corporations
Read about both organizations:

National Council of Welfare ("...advises the Minister [of Human Resources Development Canada] on the needs and problems of low-income Canadians and on social and related programs and policies which affect their welfare...")
Funding for the NCW : the federal government.

About the Fraser Institute - "Founded in 1974 at a time when many Canadians believed that government should be the principal source of growth and development in the economy, the Institute has helped bring about a considerable shift in public opinion in recognition of the importance of market competition."
Funding for the Institute: "The majority of the Institute’s revenues are derived from the donations of its members, and from research foundations."
(from the Institute's 2001 annual report - PDF file - 860K, 32 pages)

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Service Canada Regional Information:
Saskatchewan
This page provides information on region-specific services for Individuals, Business and Organizations.
Services include: Jobs * Financial Benefits * Employment Insurance * Taxes * Training and Careers * Identification Cards * Travel and Passports * Health * Consumer Information * Canada and the World * Environment and Resources * Economy * Public Safety * Culture and Recreation * Science and Technology.
Source:
Service Canada
Human Resources and Social Development Canada

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Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy
The Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy (SIPP) is a non-profit, independent, non-partisan institute at the University of Regina committed to stimulating public policy debate and providing expertise, research and analysis on social, economic, fiscal, environmental, and administrative issues related to public policy.

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Saskatchewan Office - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- Publications

Poor in Saskatchewan need more than Transitional Employment Allowance:
Province’s Building Independence Program forces the poor into “low wage” trap
Press Release
October 14, 2005
"Monday, October 17th has been declared International Day for the Eradication of Poverty by the United Nations. However, anti-poverty groups and researchers at the University of Regina say Saskatchewan has lost a significant opportunity to eradicate poverty. Rather than using larger than expected budget surpluses from oil and gas royalties to deal with poverty, the province has extensively reduced social assistance (welfare) benefits. 'The government claims there has been a 41% reduction in welfare caseloads in Saskatchewan since they introduced their Building Independence Program in 1997 and that they are making progress in dealing with poverty,' says Dr. Garson Hunter, co-author of a new research report on poverty in Saskatchewan released today by the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of Regina and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives."

Complete report:

Poor need more than T.E.A.: Saskatchewan’s Building Independence
Program forces people into “low wage” traps (PDF file - 239K, 4 pages)

Source:

Saskatchewan Office - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
--- Publications
[Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) - National Office]

Welfare to Work

Current Issues Surrounding Poverty and Welfare Programming in Canada: Two Reviews (PDF file - 338K, 49 pages)
June 2004
"...argues that Canada has followed the United States in welfare programming, and has blended the United States model with ideology borrowed from British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Third Way welfare approach to produce its own hybrid welfare programming model. The paper examines the local experimentation of welfare programming in the province of Saskatchewan, and makes comparisons between welfare programming for the vulnerable population of the poor in Saskatchewan to the welfare programming for the poor in the United States and Britain."

NOTE: recommended reading - detailed info on welfare reforms in Canada and more specifically in Saskatchewan, includes analysis of the National Child Benefit and Saskatchewan NCB programs!