Saskatchewan

For more information, please visit the information sheet on Saskatchewan's child welfare services.

Overview

In Saskatchewan, the Ministry of Social Services is responsible for providing protection services for children under the age of 16 (and in exceptional cases to youth under 18 years of age) under the mandate of the Child and Family Services Act (1989-90). There are 19 Child Protection offices across the province, within three service areas. Alleged maltreatment is reported directly to the child welfare offices in each of the three service areas that serve children off-reserve. The Adoption Act (1998) and The Emergency Protection for Victims of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Act (2002) are other pieces of legislation related to the well-being and protection of children in Saskatchewan (MacLaurin et al., 2011). 

Statistics
Saskatchewan: Children and youth in out-of-home care in 20221
Children in out-of-home careChild (0-15) populationRate per 1000
5,719331,21317.27

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities, making it difficult to compile statistics at the national level.

The most notable variations between provinces include, mandate variation by jurisdiction with respect to the age to which children are eligible for service, differences in the length of time a child can receive out-of-home care and the definition of out-of-home care.

Reference List

1 Pollock, N., Ouédraogo, A., Trocmé, N., Hovdestad, W., Miskie, A., Crompton, L., Campeau, A., Tanaka, M., Zhang, C., Laprise, C., Tonmyr, L. (2024). Original quantitative research – Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (44)4. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.4.02.

 

Reports
Title Year
2016 Annual Report
The Structured Decision Making® System for Child Protective Services: Policy and Procedures Manual for Saskatchewan
Voices for Reform: Options for Change to Saskatchewan First Nations Child Welfare
2015 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office
Annual Report for 2015-16
Duty to Protect: Special Investigation Report
Provincial/Territorial Protocol On Children, Youth and Families Moving Between Provinces and Territories
Shhh…LISTEN!! We Have Something To Say! Youth Voices From The North
The Silent World of Jordan: Special Investigation Report
2014 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office
Annual Report for 2014-15
No Time for Mark: The Gap Between Policy and Practice
Response to the Advocate for Children and Youth Two Tragedies Report: February 2015 Status Update
The Structured Decision Making System for Child Protection Services: The Policy and Procedures Manual: Saskatchewan
2013 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office
Legislation
Links