After six years of funding from Indigenous Services Canada through the Jordan’s Principle, Saskatoon Public Schools received none this school year and is now having to end the contracts of about 80 temporary educational assistants. Their last day of employment will be February 14th.

Deputy Director of Education, Charlene Scrimshaw, explains that the funding is for First Nations children who need support at school, which is what the EAs have been doing, and were funded to do that over the last six years. She notes that Saskatchewan classrooms are becoming more complex, so they have seen the need grow for educational assistants and up until this year, they were able to receive funding to help with that.

The only reason the division lasted this long into the school year is because they had funds from the 2023-24 year left over, because there weren’t enough educational assistants to hire. Scrimshaw adds that they have tried to find out why the applications for funding for individual children weren’t accepted but haven’t received answers from Indigenous Services Canada federally or through the provincial office.

She says having to end the contracts for these EAs was very difficult. “We agonized over the decision, knowing this would be a hardship for our students and our staff.”

The idea behind Jordan’s Principle is to ensure First Nations children can access services and supports they need. It’s named in memory of Jordan River Anderson from Manitoba who had complex medical needs and spent all of his five years of life in a hospital because the Governments of Manitoba and Canada argued over who should pay for his at home care.