As part of the provincial government’s commitment to adding at least 500 new addictions treatment spaces over the next five years, 18 new spaces were announced on Thursday at Possibilities Recovery Centre in Saskatoon.

The announcement came from Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Tim McLeod. He says eight of the spaces are dedicated to helping youth overcome addiction. With Thursday’s announcement, there are now a total of 561 pre-treatment, treatment, detoxification and post-treatment beds in Saskatchewan.

Executive Director of Possibilities Recovery Centre Tanner Perrat, says these 18 spots are outpatient spots, meaning that participants come for a few hours each day before returning home for the night. Both youth and adult programs are 12 weeks long.

“We use motivational interviewing…trauma informed care is a very big part of it. It’s really about understanding that a lot of people have different pathways that they’re on in recovery, and one modality may work better with someone that doesn’t work at all with the next person,” Perrat states. He adds that currently, the programs have been showing promising results. “So far, over the course of three years, our success rate (of people remaining successful in recovery) has been about 70 per cent of people that complete the program.”

The treatment is and will continue to be offered both in-person and virtually via a smart-conferencing camera.