REGINA—Per-person (inflation-adjusted) program spending in Saskatchewan reached its highest level on record at $16,843 in 2021 (excluding COVID-related spending, per-person spending ($15,585) was still by far the highest on record)
“A useful way of measuring a government’s fiscal policy is by reviewing per-person (inflation-adjusted) program spending by various Premiers,” said Tegan Hill, senior economist with the Fraser and co-author of Saskatchewan Premiers and Provincial Government Spending.
This study reviews annual per-person program spending (inflation-adjusted) by Saskatchewan premiers from 1965 to 2021, and finds that the highest single year of per-person spending on record was under Premier Scott Moe in 2021. Even excluding COVID-related spending, 2021 was still the highest year on record.
The second highest year of inflation-adjusted per-person spending ($14,904) occurred in 2020, with non-COVID related spending at $13,541 that year.
In contrast, in 1996, then-premier Roy Romanow’s government spent $7,148 per person (adjusted for inflation) after a period of austerity to better control the province’s finances, which laid the foundation for debt elimination and tax relief, contributing to a period of prosperity in Saskatchewan.
“Holding the line on the growth of provincial spending, as the government achieved in the 1990s, is imperative to the long-term health of the province’s finances,” Hill said.
Media Release, Tegan Hill, Senior Economist, Fraser Institute
