Brody Langager
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Saskatoon has been funding a detox centre over the past few decades, which came as a shock to city council during budget deliberations.
“This feels to me like something that is very, very exclusively in the lane for the health authority and provincial government,” Coun. Zach Jeffries said while wondering how this arrangement was made.
During deliberations at the end of November, council could pick from 108 items that would drop the mill rate in some way. One of those items decreased the funding going toward a detox centre, later identified as the Brief and Social Detox Centre at 201 Ave. O South.
The report to council says the facility receives $108,200 each year, and options include decreasing that funding by 10 per cent, 20 per cent or 50 per cent for 2026 and 2027.
Coun. Randy Donauer wondered which detox centre was being funded by the city, adding it was his understanding that intoxicated people are taken to the Idylwyld Drive North complex needs emergency shelter.
City administration had to verify where the Brief and Social Detox Centre is, but said the facility is operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Administration said it was created in 1997, with the city’s help, as a way to decrease costs for police, who were putting intoxicated people in jail cells or in the hospital.
A StarPhoenix article from Oct. 29, 1997 had comments from the police chief at the time, Dave Scott, saying many people that were brought to the city jail were drunk and should be put into a detox centre.
Scott also noted that he didn’t like the idea of people suffering from mental illness ending up in jail.
Coun. Troy Davies said he is well aware of the facility, noting he took patients there when he was a paramedic.
“Back then it was either ER or jail,” Davies said.
At the time it was worth investing in, he said, but more options in the city now mean it is “time to move on.
“This should be taken over by the SHA, and I have zero problems for the city stopping funding on this.”
Jeffries moved to reduce funding by 50 per cent in 2026, along with a report with the intention of removing funding by 2027.
Davies said he didn’t need a report and was willing to remove the 2027 funding immediately, as well as the 50 per cent decrease in 2026. Jeffries withdrew his motion and said he would support Davies’ motion, which passed.
Brief and Social Detox
While the complex-needs emergency shelter on Idywyld Drive North acts as a detox centre in Saskatoon, people can only be admitted if they are brought in by police.
The Brief and Social Detox Centre, on the other hand, allows people to self-admit by phone or walk-in.
Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership lays out several details about the facility, saying it has 12 beds and operates 24 hours a day.
Programming is broken up between the Brief Detox Unit and the Social Detox Unit.
The Brief Detox Unit gives intoxicated people who don’t require emergency care a place to recover for 12 hours. An EMT monitors patients, and addictions counseling is made available.
The Social Detox Unit allows people to begin the recovery process, offering an assessment to determine which detox services are needed. Patients in the Social Detox Unit program can stay for 24 hours if they are intoxicated.
The StarPhoenix asked SHA if it would continue to run the facility knowing that city funding was being pulled.
In an emailed statement, the SHA said it is committed to providing supports in Saskatoon, and that regular conversations are had with municipalities to make sure access to these services are maintained.
“The SHA will be reviewing funding considerations for this particular program as part of its annual budget. Program funding amounting to approximately $100,000/year has been in place for more than a decade.”
