SaskatchewanData obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request to the Ministry of Health shows it can take as long as six weeks to receive in-patient addiction treatment in Saskatchewan. NDP argues information is crucial in getting people the help they needAlexander Quon · CBC News · Posted: Dec 03, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Lori Carr, Saskatchewan’s minister of mental health and addictions, speaks with media last month after question period in the provincial legislature. (Kirk Fraser/CBC)It can take as long as six weeks to receive in-patient addiction treatment in Saskatchewan, according to data obtained from the province’s Ministry of Health. The data obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request appears to contradict the claims of Lori Carr, the government’s minister of mental health and addictions. In public comments and in the provincial legislature, Carr has repeatedly said the government does not have wait-time data. “The [facilities] track them individually. So it’s really hard to kind of reconcile all of that is happening at this point in time,” Carr said on Monday. The documents obtained by CBC News provide data on the average wait time for nearly every adult in-patient facility in the province as far back as the 2022-23 fiscal year. The NDP’s critic for mental health and addictions said the conflicting information offered by Carr and the documents obtained by CBC verifies her concerns about the minister. “[Carr] doesn’t have a clue,” said Betty Nippi-Albright in an interview this week.CBC News sent a detailed list of questions to the government of Saskatchewan, asking for clarity on the conflicting information. The government did not address CBC’s request for clarity in its response. Betty Nippi-Albright, the Saskatchewan NDP critic for mental health and addictions, reviews a documents obtained by CBC News showing the wait times to receive addictions treatment in Saskatchewan. (Alexander Quon/CBC)Nippi-Albright has spent much of the current legislative session attempting to get information from the government on the number of people waiting to obtain treatment.The former addictions counsellor said she had been unsuccessful in getting those answers until CBC News provided her with a copy of the documents obtained through the freedom of information request. “Withholding information that the public needs to know, that’s wrong,” Nippi-Albright said. The data released by the Ministry of Health shows that wait times to access addictions treatment can vary across the province. As of the 2024-25 fiscal year, some locations, such as the four beds at the St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Île-à-la-Crosse, have a median wait time for in-patient treatment of zero days. Other locations can take significantly longer to see patients. That includes the 32-bed St Joseph’s Addiction Recovery Centre in Estevan, which has a median wait time of six weeks. WATCH | Sask. physician blasts plans to add involuntary addictions treatment:Sask. health minister blasted with strong language from doctor over involuntary treatmentDr. Karissa Brabant condemned the province’s involuntary treatment plan while speaking to Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill at a medical conference in Saskatoon.Nippi-Albright said that for those dealing with substance-use disorders, every minute can count. “There’s only a small window of opportunity when somebody’s reaching out for help,” she said. “You have to act within that small window. But if they’re turned away from detox, if they’re turned away from accessing in-patient treatment, we lose them.” The province has repeatedly highlighted its commitment to increasing its capacity to treat those wanting assistance. Two years ago, the province promised to open 500 new treatment beds by 2028 as part of its action plan for mental health.The documents obtained by CBC News show that only 221 of those 500 treatment beds were available as of July 31, 2025. The government of Saskatchewan did not provide an answer when asked about the number of new treatment beds that are currently available. Instead, a statement from Carr said, “There are nearly 800 addiction treatment spaces operating across the province.”The documents released to CBC show that as of the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year, a total of 746 alcohol and drug treatment beds were available or pending. That number includes the beds that were open before the ministry said it would create 500 new beds as well as the beds it has opened since then. Central intake ‘the whole point’: ministerIn her responses during question period and during interviews, Carr has repeatedly pointed to the creation of a centralized intake system as a way to allow the province to record waitlist and wait-time data“It is the whole point of doing the central intake system,” Carr said. The creation of the centralized system was first announced in the province’s action plan for mental health, a document which was released in October 2023. The system is supposed to allow patients to self-refer for mental health and addictions services. The government of Saskatchewan said it is on track to implement the system “through a phased approach” in the coming year.ABOUT THE AUTHORAlexander Quon is the provincial affairs reporter for CBC Saskatchewan. He has been a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan since 2021 and is happy to be working in his hometown of Regina after half a decade in Atlantic Canada. He has previously worked with the CBC News investigative unit in Nova Scotia and Global News in Halifax. Alexander specializes in freedom of information requests and data reporting. He can be reached at: alexander.quon@cbc.ca. FacebookTwitterWith files from Kristin Annable
Sask. minister says province doesn’t have addictions wait-time data. It does
