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.

References

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.

Publications

Title	Authors	Year
Two Tragedies: Holding Systems Accountable	Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth	2014
2012 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office	Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth	2013
Out of Sight: How One Aboriginal Child’s Best Interests Were Lost Between Two Provinces	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2013
Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services: 2012-2013 Annual Report	Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services	2013
2011 Annual Report - Saskatchewan Children's Advocate Office	Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth	2012
First Nations Child Welfare in Saskatchewan	Kozlowski, Anna Sinha, Vandna Hartsook, Gail Thomas, Shelley Montgomery, H. Monty	2012
In the Matter of E.J.H and K.G.H: Administrative Fairness Investigation Report	Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth	2012
Ministry of Social Services Annual Report Highlights from 2010-11	Ministry of Social Services	2011
Progress Report 2 on Foster Home Overcrowding in Saskatchewan	Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth	2011
Saskatchewan Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2008 (SIS‑2008): Major Findings	MacLaurin, Bruce Trocmé, Nico Fallon, Barbara Sinha, Vandna Enns, Rick Feehan, Richard Rosenbluth, David Holroyd, Jill Farnell, Janet Gail, Jordan Kitt, Olivia Thomas-Prokop, Shelley Zelt, Carolyn Budgell, Danielle Hutcheon, Emily Daoust, Gabrielle	2011

Legislation

Links