Sask. cutting funding set aside for Ukrainian refugees, with fewer coming in

WATCH: Saskatchewan is cutting back on settlement support for newly arrived Ukrainians. Wayne Mantyka has the details.

Saskatchewan is cutting back on settlement support for newly arrived people and says less newcomers are coming to the province now that a special federal Visa program has ended.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, more than 8,000 Ukrainians have fled to Saskatchewan. The province provided special funding to assist with language training and job placement, but now that the special Visa program offered by Ottawa is over the province says fewer dollars are needed.

“It’s just to recognize the fact that when that funding was put in place there were thousands coming in and as of last March, the elimination of that program by the federal government, those people are no longer arriving,” Finance Minister Jim Reiter said.

Settlement services for new arrivals are administered by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. It has laid off six people after the province cut special funding from $700,000 in 2024 to $200,000 in 2025.

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“It is disappointing that at a time when Russia continues to bomb Ukraine on a daily basis and Ukrainian men, women and children are being killed, the funding for needed settlement supports for those who have fled the war is being cut,” the organization said in a statement.

The Opposition NDP also feel it is bad timing by the province.

“These cuts are cruel and not only bad from a humanitarian point of view, it is also bad for our economy and it also fails to provide critical supports to people to be able to learn English, find a place to live [and] find a job,” NDP MLA Keith Jorgenson said.

The province says settlement programs for Ukrainians do continue to operate through the remaining funding and said Ukrainians can also take advantage of programs available to all immigrants in Saskatchewan.