Minister of Social Services tours Moosomin KinAbility Centre
May 26, 2025, 1:48 pm
Ashley Bochek
Saskatchewan’s Minister of Social Services, Terry Jenson, visited Moosomin on Wednesday to tour the Pipestone KinAbility Centre.
Kevin Weedmark, MLA for Moosomin-Montmarte, invited the minister to Moosomin to see the amazing work the centre does for Moosomin and area.
Jenson explains the Ministry of Social Services and the vast amount of sectors it covers in our province.
“Within the Ministry of Social Services we have four divisions. We have disability program, income assistance, Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, and then we also have child and family programming. It’s a fairly wide breadth of work within the Ministry of Social Services and the number of people we serve within our ministry across the province is a large number.”
Jenson was appointed the role of minister last November by the Premier, and has been enjoying touring different facilities within the province.
“It has been personally really fulfilling,” Jenson said. “It is something that—living in Saskatchewan all of your life you don’t maybe realize the total scope of this ministry.—unless somehow you are connected to social services as an individual. The learning curve after becoming the minister in November was quite steep, but I’ve got a very good ministry in terms of staff. I have a lot of long-serving public service people that know the files, they know everything there is to know, and they have been able to bring me up to speed very quickly on it and I thank them for everything they do.”
Touring centres across the province
Jenson says his schedule becomes busy with touring different facilities all over Saskatchewan throughout the summer months.
“When we are in Regina and in session it is hard to get out of Regina through the week and then weekends are typically reserved for events within my constituency so when we are out of Regina and out of session for the summer, I really like taking trips, going to different communities, seeing different parts of the ministry, and talking to the individuals that make this all happen. A good example is in Moosomin at the Pipestone KinAbility Centre. It really does illustrate the work that gets done and it really helps me in my role as Minister understand the different challenges. I also get to see some of the successes and that’s very rewarding in itself.”
In Moosomin
Jenson says he was invited by our local MLA to tour Pipestone KinAbility.
“I came to Moosomin because the MLA for Moosomin-Montmarte invited me to come out and see the facility and meet some of the people so I can see the things that are happening in the community, to understand some of the challenges they may be having, and meeting some of the clients that are participating in the programs here. It is important to be out in the communities—not just in Regina and Saskatoon, but in rural Saskatchewan too.”
He says he had never seen a facility offer laundry services for the local hospital until touring Pipestone KinAbility.
“I didn’t realize the fact that at the Pipestone KinAbility Centre they are able to do the laundry for the Long-Term Care Home and the hospital. That was something I hadn’t seen before so that is a very unique service that they are providing to the residents of Moosomin and area.
“It is all about meeting new individuals and having conversations with them to find out more about who they are, and what they enjoy about being there. It’s one of those things that is hard to describe, but when you have a chance to do the things that I do—talking to people and seeing how things work it is really something that is very rewarding and it is something that I really enjoy doing.”
Accessibility Legislation in Saskatchewan
Jenson says the ministry has worked hard on making accessibility changes a priority in Saskatchewan.
“Back in the fall of 2023, we passed the Accessibility Legislation in Saskatchewan. It is a legislation that provides a framework where the Government of Saskatchewan has put forward a plan to improve accessibility for individuals within government facilities and government services.
“By having the provincial government lead the way on that, we are really encouraging the business community, other stakeholders such as school divisions and the health authority too—where they can maybe improve accessibility for those who have challenges, whether those are physical or intellectual. For example, when it comes to the government’s website we have taken an active role in trying to ensure that say somebody who is visually impaired that they have the ability to visit the provincial government website and be able to obtain information from it. So, there are different things we are trying to do within the Accessible Saskatchewan Act. That is one that as government, we are trying to lead by example and be able to provide a better quality of life for individuals who have accessibility challenges. That is one key component within our areas that we are working on right now.”
He says the ministry sees similar concerns within the disability sector across the province.
“It comes down to human resources and human resources is a challenge, and I have had these conversations at facilities across the province,” said Jenson. “You look across the province regardless of which sector it is, and it is having human resource challenges.
“We are doing our absolute best in this area to try to ensure we have enough people able to do the work, but again it is something that is not just unique to this ministry or this area of the ministry, it is a challenge across the province.
“It is one that we are continually working on to try to open more doors for people to get into the sector so we can have the staffing complements that we need not just in Moosomin, but all across the province.”
Pipestone KinAbility
Jenson says the centre is a vital part of Moosomin and the community.
“It is important in the community number one. It provides a place where individuals can go to get programming, they have learning opportunities, a place where they can socialize, and it also provides through Sarcan or through the laundry department—it is providing employment opportunities to those who may otherwise not have that opportunity, and it allows those individuals to live with a quality of life that is maximized. It is important for the community—not only from an employment standpoint, but also just a quality of life standpoint. They are full participants of the community just like any other resident and that is why a place like Pipestone KinAbility is so important to Moosomin.”
Ministry working hard
Jenson says they are continuously working toward developing and implementing resources to help the divisions of their ministry. “The job is never done.
Everything is always in a constant state of evolution and we are always looking to have more resources available, but things take time. There has been a lot of good work that has been done recently in the past, and we are going to continue to work on that in the future.
“It is MLAs like Kevin that bring those ideas forward because they are the local eyes and ears for us in the ministry so they may see an opportunity, bring that forward to us, and that is how things evolve within each ministry.
We will continue to work on improvements, and ensuring those who need the assistance will be provided with every possible opportunity to get that assistance.”
Joel Kilbride, Assistant Deputy Minister, Disabilities, says they are proud of their continuous work toward making accessibility a priority in Saskatchewan.
“The Accessibility Legislation is a major accomplishment. It is the first of its kind for the province and not every province has it, so the legislation itself, developing government’s accessibility plan has been so important to the province.
“That is just a major piece of work that is across the government—not just social services. We are just the lead on that. I think that is a very significant accomplishment already, but there is more work to do on it.”
Jenson adds, “I get to work with some very incredible people each day and the scope of work is very vast. There is a lot—disability, income assistance, housing, child and family, and each of those divisions have a number of ongoing initiatives and goals that we are trying to accomplish.
“When you talk about disabilities, we talk about the Accessibility Legislation. That is a living document and it is not going away, it is something that we will continually be working on to make Saskatchewan the most accessible province in the country.
“We have always said we want Saskatchewan to be the best province for somebody who has a disability to live in, work in, raise a family in, and be part of a community in. It is ongoing work that just won’t stop and it is exciting work.”
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