The Saskatchewan government announced on Tuesday the recently passed Saskatchewan Affordability Act as part of its plans to provide residents with financial relief in 2025 amid a high cost of living.
“How can we save for a rainy day when it’s already pouring every day?” said Morgana Scully, a resident of Regina.
The Government said it is aiming to remain Canada’s most affordable place in 2025 and is taking action through the act and annual tax indexation. Indexation is the adjustment of provincial income tax brackets and credits to protect residents from rising costs.
The act reduced personal income tax by increasing rates for other exemptions — something BDO Debt Solutions says is needed with people struggling to make ends meet.
Get daily National news
“More than 50 per cent of Saskatchewan residents are living paycheque to paycheque,” said Jasmin Brown, BDO Debt Solutions Canada partner. “You listen to reports from the credit reporting agencies, and credit usage, particularly credit cards, is on the rise. Delinquencies are on the rise. That’s all because even the basic necessities of life are costing more now.”
Brown says affordability is a huge problem to try and tackle but one where every bit of relief counts.
“I think whatever measures (the province) can take to try and make life a little bit more affordable, the better. Realistically, how will it play out? I mean, who knows? But they’ve identified the issue that people are having. The common regular person is struggling even to put food on the table,” Brown said.
Scully believes many don’t access affordability supports because they aren’t aware that they exist or of how complex they are.
“Nobody is told these things. You’re not actually getting information in education from the places you should be, like your doctors, like your pharmacist, the people helping with your paperwork,” Scully said.
Scully added that Saskatchewan is on the right track with measures like the affordability act and hopes to see information made more accessible to those who really need it.
The government of Saskatchewan notes the commitments in the affordability act are in addition to more than $2 billion in affordability measures already outlined in provincial budgets.
Comments