Strengthening the impact of district funding: Supporting community impact across Sask.
Communities are working together to strengthen cultural experiences and opportunities at the grassroots level, including access to sport and recreation in Saskatchewan.
As one of the tri-global partners managing the Sask Lotteries Trust Fund for sport, culture and recreation, SaskCulture works alongside Sask Sport and the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association to support meaningful cultural outcomes and build community capacity. This also includes supporting a renewed District Funding Framework that helps communities, grassroots leaders, and organizations respond to local needs through a community development approach.
"We contributed to the framework renewal by strengthening the funding model and ensuring cultural outcomes were clearly reflected,"- Damon Badger Heit, supervisor, partnership and inclusion, SaskCulture
The renewed District Framework modernizes a 2008 funding model, creating a more consistent and coordinated approach across all seven Districts while still allowing flexibility to respond to local needs.
Work began in 2023 with the Tri-Globals and Districts, supported by Strong Roots Consulting, which led the Consultations and developed a report released in 2025. This work laid the foundation for a new application and reporting model.
Key changes include a stronger focus on Community Capacity Building as the foundation of District funding, organized under three pillars: leadership and volunteer development, awareness and connection, and governance and operational excellence. The framework also clarifies roles between funding partners and Districts, while simplifying reporting to better reflect how work is happening on the ground.
A significant shift in the renewed framework is the integration of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA), along with Truth and Reconciliation, as core guiding principles.
“Two guiding principles, IDEA and Truth and Reconciliation, were established as core to the framework, not just add-ons, and meant to be integrated across all three pillars,” says Badger Heit. “It’s about building the ability of communities to deliver sport, culture, and recreation in ways that reflect inclusion and Truth and Reconciliation.”
The renewed District Framework is already creating clearer expectations, reducing administrative burden, and giving Districts more flexibility to respond to local needs. Districts have now completed the first application cycle, and the first reporting cycle under the new framework will be finished in summer 2026.
Following this, the Tri-Globals and Districts will review both the process and its outcomes, making adjustments as needed to continue improving and clarifying the framework moving forward.