Person of Sufficient Interest Saskatchewan: PSI Orders Explained

A Person of Sufficient Interest (PSI) order is the legal arrangement that unlocks the strongest financial support for relatives raising a child in Saskatchewan. Under a PSI order, the caregiver receives monthly maintenance payments at the foster care basic rate — non-means-tested and tax-free — plus supplementary health coverage, school allowances, and annual holiday grants. No other care arrangement in the province comes close to this level of support.

But getting a PSI order is not something you apply for on a form. Here is how the program actually works.

What a PSI Order Is

Under The Child and Family Services Act (CFSA), a PSI order is a court order that places a child in the legal custody of a trusted relative or community member. The key provisions are:

• Section 23 gives you party status in a child protection proceeding — the right to participate in court hearings about the child's placement
• Section 37 is the order itself — the court places the child in your physical care and legal custody

Once you have a Section 37 order, you become the child's sole legal guardian with decision-making authority over health care, education, religion, and daily life. The child is not a ward of the province. Biological parents' rights are suspended (not permanently severed), and they retain the right to petition the court to change the order if their circumstances improve.

How You Get a PSI Order

You cannot walk into an office and apply for PSI status. The process starts with child protection involvement:

1. The Ministry of Social Services (MSS) or a Delegated Indigenous Child and Family Services (ICFS) agency determines that a child is in need of protection
2. Instead of placing the child in foster care, the Ministry identifies you as a suitable relative caregiver
3. You undergo criminal record checks, child welfare record checks, and a home safety assessment
4. MSS or the ICFS agency petitions the Court of King's Bench or Provincial Court for a Section 37 order naming you as the PSI caregiver
5. The court grants the order

The critical distinction: you cannot initiate this process privately. It flows through the child protection system. If you are caring for a child informally and no ministry involvement has occurred, you are not eligible for a PSI order — you would need to pursue a parenting order under The Children's Law Act, 2020 instead (which does not come with the same financial support).

What PSI Payments Cover

Once the court grants a PSI order and you sign an Extended Family Support Agreement with MSS, you receive:

• Monthly basic maintenance at the provincial foster care rate (covering food, shelter, clothing, daily care)
• Annual school fee allowance for registration, supplies, and course fees
• Annual holiday allowance for the child
• Supplementary health coverage — prescriptions, basic dental, annual optical, and medical supplies
• Special needs and respite care funding (assessed individually, requires prior MSS approval)
• Babysitting support for approved employment or emergencies

These payments are completely non-means-tested. Your pension, employment income, or savings do not reduce the rate. Under paragraph 81(1)(h) of the federal Income Tax Act, the payments are non-taxable and do not need to be reported as income.

The CCB Trade-Off

There is one significant trade-off. When MSS pays PSI maintenance, the Ministry claims the federal Children's Special Allowance (CSA) for that child. This means you cannot receive the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for the same child.

Compare the actual PSI maintenance amount with the CCB amount the household would otherwise receive; the two cannot be claimed for the same child. CCB can be up to $7,787 per year for a child under 6, while PSI maintenance is not reduced by caregiver income.

Annual Reviews and Oversight

A PSI placement is low-touch compared to foster care. Because the child is not a ward, routine MSS caseworker supervision is minimal. Case management is limited to an annual review, where a worker conducts a home visit to evaluate placement stability, review the Extended Family Support Agreement, and (for Indigenous children) update the cultural connection plan.

The 2023 Advocate for Children and Youth report, "In Their Sufficient Interest?", found that this minimal oversight sometimes left children's evolving needs unaddressed between reviews. The Ministry accepted most of the report's recommendations and began implementing improvements under a PSI Action Plan running through 2027.

When PSI Payments End

PSI maintenance stops automatically on the child's 18th birthday. Unlike permanent wards, who can access extended support up to age 21, PSI youth face an abrupt termination. The Ministry declined the Advocate's recommendation to extend support to age 21, citing the legal expiry of PSI orders at 18.

This means planning ahead for the transition is important — particularly for youth with disabilities or those still in school.

What If You Are Already Caring Informally?

About 1,711 children in Saskatchewan had PSI status as of June 2026, down from 2,118 in 2020. Meanwhile, many more relatives are caring for children informally with no court order and no provincial financial support.

If you are already caring for a child and believe a PSI order might be appropriate, you would need to contact the Ministry of Social Services to discuss the situation. MSS determines whether child protection involvement is warranted. Not every informal arrangement will meet the threshold — the child must be found to be in need of protection under the CFSA.

For those whose situation does not qualify for PSI, the financial path runs through the CCB, SIS, SEI, and a private parenting order. The Saskatchewan Kinship Financial Help Guide maps both paths — PSI and non-PSI — so you can see exactly which supports apply to your arrangement.

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