The 2021-2022 provincial budget was what municipalities were expected, according to Moose Jaw’s city manager Jim Puffalt. 

The budget laid out $465.2 million of provincial support for municipalities. It was a decrease of $101.9 million due to the fall-off of the one-time Municipal Economic Enhancement Program that was worth $150 million. 

Municipalities will see a slight decrease in revenue sharing, with $275.7 million, a downfall of about $2.4 million from 2020-2021. 

Puffalt said municipalities knew there would be downfalls when they signed the agreement several years ago. 

“The municipalities and cities at that time were more than willing to enter into an agreement where you participated in the good times and sometimes the good times aren't so good and there's a little bit of a drawback on the revenue sharing,” he said. 

The budget includes $39 million will go towards workforce development, something Puffalt saw as positive. 

“We're looking at the shared use schools coming up this fall. Great Plains power stations already under construction, so there's a lot of activity going to happen here already, and so anything that adds to it is great as we come out of the pandemic.” 

Puffalt also noted the $6 million allotted for the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Moose Jaw campus mezzanine project and $2.5 million for the Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project on having impacts on the community. 

To a lesser extent, the city will see savings with the continuation Community Rink Affordability Grant. Moose Jaw has four ice surfaces eligible for the grant at $2,500 per year per ice surface.