At the end of last fiscal year, the provincial government finished up with a deficit several million dollars smaller than originally forecast.

The budgeted deficit at the start of the year was $273 million, but announced Monday, the operating deficit at the end of 2024-25 is $249 million.

The smaller deficit is attributed to increased revenue, mainly from the $700 million resolution of Canada’s Historic Tobacco Settlement.

While revenues increased from budget, expenses were also up over the same period. Total expenses of $21.1 billion are an increase of $970 million, or 4.8 per cent, from the 2024-25 Budget, primarily due to notable increases in the Health, Agriculture, and Environment and Natural Resources expense themes.

The government release adds that the province’s net debt increased by $1.3 billion in 2024-25, mainly due to investments in important infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and roads. However, the Province maintains that Saskatchewan still holds the second lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in Canada.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is criticizing the provincial government for spending almost a billion dollars over budget in 2024-25.

A release from the CTF says the 2024 budget originally projected the government would spend $20.1 billion last year, whereas the new report shows the government spent $21.1 billion, or $970 million more than budget projections. The government spent more than it budgeted in nine out of eleven departments. That includes spending about $8.5 million over budget in “general government.”

“The government is already wasting hundreds of millions of dollars per year on debt interest payments because it’s repeatedly failed to control spending and keeps borrowing more money,” CTF Prairie Director Gage Haubrich said. “Finance Minister Jim Reiter needs to stop spending money as fast as it comes in and work to reduce the cost of government for taxpayers.”