Organizations working with vulnerable people in Saskatchewan are calling for changes to the Saskatchewan Income Support (SIS) program, claiming it is putting more people at risk of ending up on the street.
Rallies were held in Regina and Saskatoon, calling for changes to the program.
SIS replaced the Saskatchewan Assistance Program (SAP) and the Transitional Employment Allowance (TEA). Both programs closed out Aug. 31.
SIS has made things far more challenging for those needing that financial support, according to Quint, a development corporation that helps people get housing.
Quint owns around 100 affordable rental-housing units in Saskatoon.
“In September we found we had to issue 11 notices of evictions,” said executive director Len Usiskin. “That’s unprecedented for us.”
The main issue: SIS deposits money into the tenant’s bank account, where previously then money was sent directly to landlords and utility companies.
The new system means those receiving SIS are responsible for paying their bills themselves.
“In a lot of cases they don’t have the capacity to make those payments directly,” Usiskin said, explaining some tenants may be struggling with different situations including debt, family situations, or mental health and addiction issues.
“People are falling into arrears, they’re not paying their rent, they’re using the shelter allowance for other things.”
Prairie Harm Reduction said Saskatoon is seeing more and more people experiencing homelessness.
“We see them in alleys, we see them in empty lots, and we have people if you drive down 20th street in the morning, people just sleeping on the sidewalk,” said associate director Kayla Demong.
“We have a visibly homeless population to a level we’ve never seen in this city before.”
She said she worries more people will continue to resort to living on the street if SIS isn’t fixed.
Kristen Thoms, a manager with Quint, shared how the program change has affected their clients.
She gave the example of ‘Johnny’, a man accessing the province’s previous income support because he has an “acquired brain injury” that affects his memory and functioning.
With the old income assistance, Johnny’s rent and utility bills were paid directly. But after some confusion, Thoms said Johnny was moved to SIS.
“His rent was not getting paid to his landlord, it was getting sent to him. His utilities were not getting paid to the utility company and not in full,” she said.
“Johnny’s in our office last month crying, holding the few dollars he has left and he’s like ‘Look, this is all I have for rent’.”
She said his rent for October still isn’t paid, and Quint is working with Johnny to prevent him from getting evicted.
The Saskatchewan Landlord Association said in October, 30 per cent of tenants on SIS did not pay their rent, and 12 per cent only paid a portion of it.
Previously this was only one to three per cent of tenants, CEO Cameron Choquette said.
“It wasn’t common for income assistance clients to be in persistent arrears like they are now,” he said.
Quint said another issue arising is many private landlords are saying they do not want to rent to someone collecting SIS.
“The current policies under the SIS program make it very risky for landlords … to rent to income assistance clients because it is so risky and comes at a large financial cost,” Cameron said.
Advocates said trying to get people help is also challenging; Quint said employees are waiting hours on hold trying to reach someone from social services.
Prairie Harm Reduction and Quint are calling for the province to change SIS so utilities and rent be paid directly. They also want more social workers hired to cut down on wait times for help.