The 2022 Operating Budget was passed last week, and a part of that will include an expansion of the Community Support Program.

According to City Administration, the program currently being implemented in Downtown Regina has succeeded. The program’s expansion was brought forward as an amendment to the Operating Budget.

Mayor Sandra Masters said the program is something she feels was needed.

“They are experiencing things that other areas or individuals have experienced before,” she said. “Now that the emergency shelter is located in the Warehouse District, and that overdoses and that’s folks in need of assistance who need to be connected to service.”

Masters said that the program had had many successes in the Downtown.

“It appears very successful in the Downtown in terms of mitigating calls to the police but also actually helping both businesses and individuals running that sort of that interference has been really beneficial for both parties. It really is about expanding that, now that the shelter is there, it’s created the need for that as well, for those businesses.”

The program’s expansion will cost $209,240, with the funding coming from the $875,000 initially earmarked for the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.