It is a problem facing the whole province and Humboldt is no exception.
On November 23, an Event to Address Growth was held at the St. Peter's College gym in Muenster. The event was held to address concerns the entire Humboldt region has been facing due to growth.
It was an opportunity for leaders from different communities across the province to make connections, to work together and learn from each other.
"The organizing committee was pleased with how well it went," said Jennifer Brooks, Communications and Community Development director for the City of Humboldt. "Due to the weather, about three-quarters of the people registered were able to make it."
She explained it was a great way for different leaders to make contacts.
Humboldt MLA Donna Harpauer was one of the speakers at the event. She explained how the government is dealing with the rapid growth in the province.
"Without question, the last five years have been good ones for the province of Saskatchewan," said Harpauer. "Along with Alberta, we are leading the nation in economic growth."
She explained Saskatchewan is seeing population increases they have not seen since 1921. Since 2007, 80,000 more people call the province home.
"Our region is growing and that begs the question - Is this growth a good thing?" said Harpauer.
She explained although the highways are busier, there is a housing shortage and infrastructure challenges, growth is still a good thing for the people of Saskatchewan.
"That growth is paying for a better quality of life for the people of Saskatchewan," said Harpauer.
The growth has helped with other challenges, Harpauer explained. It has helped pay down 44 per cent of the debt and drop 140,000 Saskatchewan low-income earners off the tax rolls.
Along with partners, they were also able to pay for services like STARS air ambulance.
"That growth paid for a new high school in Humboldt," said Harpauer. "And, along with the Federal Government, it paid for the amazing renovations right here at St. Peter's College."
She explained that growth is important to not only the Humboldt region, but the province.
"Growth is only a means to an end and what we do with the dividends of growth is why we must continue to pursue it," said Harpauer.
She said, Harvard economist Benjamin Freedman wrote a book called "Consequences of Economic Growth" in which he said, "Economic growth, meaning a rising standard of living for the clear majority of citizens, more often than not fosters greater opportunity, tolerance and diversity, social mobility, a commitment to fairness and a dedication to democracy."
Harpauer believes that growth is not only about economic benefits, but also about social benefits.
During the summer, the MLAs were gathering input from the people of Saskatchewan on how to sustain and manage growth now and in the future.
"I personally, along with meetings with groups and individuals, sent a postcard-style mailer to all of my constituents that posed three simple questions on what they would like to see their government do in the short term and in the long term," said Harpauer. "The feedback I received was quite diverse yet, there were obvious reoccurring themes."
The information they gathered, along with an examination of the best practices from other jurisdictions where they faced growth, helped the Saskatchewan Party form a plan called Vision 2020 and beyond.
"It's our blueprint for our future and it begins with a goal - that Saskatchewan will be a province of 1.2 million people by 2020," said Harpauer. "There are many goals throughout the document but this goal will inform our decisions and our efforts."
There are six main components to the plan.
The first component is an important one to all communities in Saskatchewan - infrastructure.
"We heard loud and clear that our first priority must be infrastructure," said Harpauer.
Although public investment for infrastructure has gone up 63 per cent over the last four years, the government knows there need to be more done.
"So our government in our growth plan commits to spending an additional $2.5 billion on infrastructure from now to the end of our term," said Harpauer.
They have also announced a new government agency called SaskBuilds.
"The mandate of this new organization is to drive innovation in infrastructure financing, design and delivery," said Harpauer. "The infrastructure needs in our province are enormous. We need to be innovative and we need to leverage as many dollars as possible so we can get to projects in a more timely fashion."
In order for it to work, it will explore public-private partnerships.
They will also be working on other ways to help municipalities in the future.
"Our government will continue to work with our municipal partners to develop an infrastructure program separate from the revenue sharing," said Harpauer. "Revenue sharing is up 87 per cent within our first term of government but separate and above that municipalities have been clear that they need an infrastructure partnership - one that is properly resourced - and we will get that done in this term of our government."
Housing is also important when it comes to infrastructure.
"Housing starts are way up," said Harpauer. "In 2011, we saw the most starts since 1983 - more than 7,000. This year, the forecast is for 8,500."
The government has increased the number of public units being built each year and has introduced the "Headstart on a Home" program.
"Water security and supply will also be a key infrastructure piece in supporting growth within our province," said Harpauer.
The second component is the labour shortage.
"If we are to grow by 1.2 million people - which is our goal - we will need a minimum of 60,000 more workers," said Harpauer.
They will be developing an additional 300 apprenticeship positions, increasing the immigrant allocation from the federal government from 4,000 to 6,000 people and engage more citizens already in Saskatchewan in the economy.
"To do that we are committing to eliminating the wait list for the Adult Basic Education (ABE) Program - a program taught right here in this region through the good work of Carlton Trail (Regional College)," said Harpauer. "Presently there are 2,600 people who want to be a part of this economy but they are waiting because their education isn't adequate."
The government is also looking at engaging the Aboriginal people in the province.
"The unemployment rate for Aboriginal people is 14 per cent," said Harpauer. "The unemployment rate for non-Aboriginal people is four per cent. This gap must close."
The third component is competitiveness.
"Over our first four years of government we have lowered a number of taxes because of what our present growth has supported and paid for," said Harpauer. "A family of four right now in Saskatchewan keeps more of the money they make before they pay any provincial tax than any other province in Canada."
Although the taxes for individuals has gone down, Harpauer hopes they will also reduce corporate business rates.
"Alberta has a rate of 10 per cent and B.C. is 10 per cent," said Harpauer. "Those two provinces are our greatest source of competition. So beginning with the next budget we will, over the next two years, reduce our rate from 12 per cent to 10 per cent."
The government also hopes to pursue non-refundable tax credits aimed at new growth.
"We have seen in the past that capital investment and development will often attract more capital investment and development but we are competing with other jurisdictions for these projects," said Harpauer.
The fourth component is innovation.
"We can diversify in the resource areas that we know - food supply and energy," said Harpauer, instead of trying to copy Ontario's manufacturing and processing.
"Our government's plan is to build on a platform of our strengths," said Harpauer. "We are really good at food, fuel and fertilizer."
The fifth component is international engagement.
"We need to embrace the fact that we are primary producers and exporters and that's a good thing," said Harpauer. "We are leaders in the world today because of the resources we have - our food, our energy and our fertilizer."
The main focus will be the United States, she explained.
"Sixty per cent of our exports go there but that relationship for the most part tends to take care of itself," said Harpauer. "We need to be mindful of it but it is generally lower maintenance than markets elsewhere."
She said Saskatchewan needs to do better at building relationships with other international markets.
"We are on track this year to lead British Columbia in exports," said Harpauer. "You may have heard our Premier say, Not bad for a province without a port, and we're not likely to get one any time soon but it speaks to the importance of what we have. It speaks to the fact that the world is getting more hungry, not less hungry."
A new scholarship offered to Saskatchewan students may help with engaging international markets.
"(We are) going to set up a new scholarship for 20 Saskatchewan students, called the "Saskatchewan International Future" scholarship, so they can move to our potential markets and study business at international institutions," said Harpauer. "In return they will agree to live and work in Saskatchewan for five years after they graduate."
The final component is fiscal responsibility.
"We are going to balance our budgets," said Harpauer. "Our government believes that balanced budgets need to be the foundation of our growth plan and we need to continue to pay down our debt."
They hope to reduce the debt by another $400 million, so it will be cut in half from 2007.
"Even though there are challenges, opportunity is here in Saskatchewan," said Harpauer. "It's not in some other province, some other country. It's right here in the province we call home - our great Saskatchewan.
