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 care	Child (0-15) population	Rate per 1000
5,719	331,213	17.27

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
Annual Report for 2013-14	2014
Lost in the System: Jake's Story	2014
Response to the Advocate for Children and Youth Two Tragedies Report: August 2014 Status Update	2014
Saskatchewan Child Abuse Protocol 2014	2014
Two Tragedies: Holding Systems Accountable	2014
2012 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office	2013
2012-2013 Annual Report	2013
Out of Sight: How One Aboriginal Child’s Best Interests Were Lost Between Two Provinces	2013
2011 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office	2012
In the Matter of E.J.H and K.G.H: Administrative Fairness Investigation Report	2012
2010-2011 Annual Report	2011
Ministry of Social Services Annual Report Highlights from 2010-11	2011
Progress Report 2 on Foster Home Overcrowding in Saskatchewan	2011
Saskatchewan Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008 (SIS‑2008): Major Findings	2011
Saskatchewan's Children and Youth Agenda	2011

Legislation

Links