The provincial government is committing up to $3.5 million dollars over the next year to allow the Saskatoon Tribal Council to continue running their Temporary Emergency Wellness Centre downtown.

Tribal Chief Mark Arcand says the plan is to operate out of the current 145 First Avenue North location until April 30th, 2023. That’s when the goal is to a have a permanent site ready to go outside of the downtown core.

Chief Arcand says he wants to see the Saskatoon Tribal Council take over the shelter business in the city.

“For our people, all people. I’m stating it publicly and I’m not going to hide away from it because I think when you see the province of Saskatchewan standing beside us and saying we made a significant investment. That should tell the public something.”

Arcand pointed told reporters that the STC is in talks with realtors and investors on a few properties in the city for the permanent site including one on 20th Street that’s located a few blocks east of St. Paul’s Hospital.

Since the current bylaw states temporary shelters can only operate for a period of up to six months, the bylaw will have to be amended to allow the STC Wellness Centre to operate until April 30th of next year.

Mayor Charlie Clark says this will provide residents with a more stable timeline of when the temporary shelter will move out of downtown.

“It’s been uncertain for sometime, okay so what’s the next step and where can there be a location and is the province clearly committed to making that happen and this commitment, I say what’s really significant is the commitment to not just provide shelter for somebody for a night but to have a more holistic approach to people who are in crisis.”

The Wellness Centre offers three meals a day, laundry services along with other supports including mental health and addictions counselling.

Seventy-five beds are currently in place at the downtown facility with 500 different people using the facility since it opened in mid-December.