The City Yards are not far from the Exhibition grounds. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)
Shelter

Council in favour of drafted land purchase agreement to build emergency shelter

Jun 24, 2025 | 9:01 AM

Despite several attempts to delay the decision, Prince Albert city council voted 6-3 in favour of drafting a sale agreement of up to one acre of land. The sale will be to the province and the land will be used to build an emergency shelter.

Discussion began at the start of the meeting when adopting the agenda. Coun. Dan Brown attempted to have the item removed from the agenda, saying the Exhibition Association (the city’s temporary shelter) may have their insurance revoked if another shelter is constructed nearby.

The proposed location is at the City Yards, approximately a block from the Exhibition grounds. The temporary location for the shelter has been right in the Exhibition Grounds under the grandstand since 2020.

READ MORE: Exhibition says they have suffered with shelter on-site

Several councillors and Mayor Bill Powalinsky said they received the same email regarding insurance and wanted to make sure the information was accurate.

Brown’s motion to remove the land sale from the agenda and send it back to an executive meeting was defeated.

During the discussion on the land sale agreement, Coun. Bryce Laewetz said his residents feel their input on the actual location was denied.

“The location is what’s creating the issue here,” Laewetz said. “I do want residents that feel shut out to know that I hear you.”

The decision is far from final. Once the sale agreement is created, the province must still agree to conditions of the sale. Council has several conditions. One is that any expansion to services (number of beds) comes back for a vote by council. Another is counselling services are to be available on site.

While the sale agreement is being finalized, city staff will start the subdivision process and then other deals must be reached.

A contract zoning agreement, a development permit and an agreement for services (water and sewer) must all come back to council. Each requires a separate motion.

When the development permit comes back, nearby residents will be able to speak at the public hearing, expected in July.

A related item that was on the agenda and drew much less discussion was the possibility of a complex needs centre installed in the downtown.

Council has been pushing the province to add one in Prince Albert, something that has already been tested in Saskatoon and Regina.

Coun. Blake Edwards said that the two centres in Saskatchewan’s two largest cities are having some positive results.

“I think this is a game changer for our community,” he said. “It’s having a positive impact in Saskatoon and Regina and this one will have the same number of beds.”

First reading of a zoning bylaw change was passed that would allow for a ‘special care facility’ in the C1 zoning district.

READ MORE: Council hopes to be next for complex needs facility

The other facilities have 15 beds and are a mix of emergency intervention for people with a mental health crisis and detention for a short period of time.

Not all who are homeless in Prince Albert are there because of addiction. According to Anna Dinsdale, a community safety and well-being manager at a complex needs facility, some who are homeless have schizophrenia, or a brain injury.

They are too unwell to be taken into the regular emergency shelter, she said but don’t benefit from being in police cells or the hospital waiting room either. The complex needs shelter is geared toward helping them.

“This is a huge positive for our city. We’ve got some social issues and this is one piece of the puzzle,” said Coun. Troy Parenteau in the discussion leading up to the vote.

Stays are generally very short until the patient can get mental health assistance. The two that exist in Saskatchewan already are operated under contract to the province by a private company called Edgewood Health Network Canada. No information has been shared over who would operate the facility in Prince Albert.

More information on the complex needs facility is expected to be in front of council this fall with a rough schedule of having the facility open in about a year.

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social

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