The narrow corridors of Moose Jaw’s Riverside Mission have never felt more crowded. Walking through the shelter on a brisk April morning, I watched staff navigate between makeshift beds that now line hallways once used only for passage between rooms.
“We’ve gone from helping 30 people a night to sometimes 60,” explains Deann Brisbin, community services coordinator at the Mission. She gestures to a small office now converted to sleeping space. “Every square foot matters when the alternative is someone sleeping in -30 weather.”
The numbers tell a sobering story across this Saskatchewan city of 33,000. According to the latest point-in-time count released by the Moose Jaw Housing Authority, the community’s homeless population has more than doubled since 2022, jumping from approximately 45 identified individuals to nearly 100 today.
This surge mirrors troubling trends across the prairies. Homelessness in Saskatchewan has accelerated at a pace even seasoned social workers describe as unprecedented, with similar increases reported in Regina and Saskatoon. The Saskatchewan Housing Corporation confirms a 32% increase in applications for subsidized housing across the province since 2021.
“What we’re seeing isn’t just poverty — it’s systems failing simultaneously,” says Dr. Alana Ross, social policy researcher at the University of Saskatchewan. “When housing, healthcare, addiction services, and income supports all strain at once, people fall through widening cracks.”
Behind these statistics are stories that challenge stereotypes about rural homelessness. At the Mission’s daily lunch service, I met Kevin, a 42-year-old journeyman electrician who lost his housing after a workplace injury led to opioid dependency.
“I was making $38 an hour last February,” he tells me, stirring a cup of coffee. “By December, I was sleeping in my truck until it got repossessed. Nobody plans for this.”
Moose Jaw’s housing crisis reflects a perfect storm of economic pressures. Rental vacancy rates have plummeted to 1.8%, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data. Meanwhile, average rents have climbed 12% since 2022, outpacing income growth in a community where 22% of households earn less than $30,000 annually.
City Councillor Crystal Froese has pushed for emergency measures but acknowledges limited municipal tools. “We’ve approved three affordable housing developments in 18 months, but construction timelines mean real relief is still years away,” she explains during our conversation at City Hall. “The federal Rapid Housing Initiative helped, but one-time funding can’t address systemic issues.”
The province’s Saskatchewan Income Support program, which replaced previous social assistance programs in 2019, continues to draw criticism from frontline workers. “SIS pays $575 for housing and utilities in a market where the average one-bedroom apartment costs $850,” notes Trevor Buhr, housing advocate with the Moose Jaw Transition House. “That mathematical impossibility drives homelessness.”
Provincial Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky defended the program in a statement to Mediawall.news, citing “$450 million in various housing supports” while acknowledging “ongoing evaluation of benefit rates in the context of current market conditions.”
For those experiencing homelessness, policy debates offer little immediate comfort. At Moose Jaw’s Sojourner’s shelter, I spoke with Marlene, a 68-year-old who became homeless after her landlord sold her apartment building to a developer. With a fixed pension of $1,880 monthly, she found herself priced out of a market where affordable senior housing has two-year waitlists.
“I worked 40 years at the hospital,” she says quietly. “Now I carry everything I own in these two bags. This isn’t how I pictured my retirement.”
The crisis has ripple effects throughout the community. Moose Jaw Police Service
