Photo: Creighton School Division Photo: The Creighton Community School will be the home of a new Mental Health Capacity Building initiative for the Creighton School Division / Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
By Michael Oleksyn
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Prince Albert Daily Herald
Creighton School Division is the latest expansion in the Government of Saskatchewan’s Mental Health Capacity Building (MHCB) program which provides school staffing and supports to promote mental health and wellbeing for students.
According to the province the Ministry of Education has allocated $5.2 million for the 2025-26 school year to support mental health initiatives in schools. This includes $4.6 million for the MHCB program, which now operates in 20 school divisions across the province with the addition of Creighton School Division in northeast Saskatchewan, which includes the communities of Creighton and Denare Beach.
Creighton School Division Director of Education Steve Lytwyn explained that the initiative will be a benefit because of where the school division is located.
“I think for us, we’re rural, we’re a northern, we’re a rural northern and remote community. So, all in all, that’s something that we as a community would benefit from, like both Creighton and Denare Beach would benefit from having more mental wellness support. That would be a big thing,” Lytwyn said.,
With the community affected dramatically by this summer’s wildfires Lytwyn sees the program as an added benefit.
“As you’re aware, we’ve had very traumatic spring summer with the evacuation for four weeks and a lot of devastation to homes for our residents of Denare Beach. So we knew that we would need to kind of go above and beyond to support everybody, like staff and students, because we’ve had students and staff both lose their homes,” Lytwyn said.
The division is a rarity among the 27 divisions in the province with it being all in one school the Creighton Community School.
“We’re only a one school school division. We’re very unique. We’re the one and only, I think, of the 27 school divisions in Saskatchewan. We are the one that is a one school school division. So us and Ile La crosse are always the smallest. Ile La Crosse though has two buildings, so they actually have an elementary school and a high school. We’re all housed pre-K to grade 12 in one building,” Lytwyn said.
This is an advantage for the division in terms of getting the program up and running according to Lytwyn.
“That’s an asset for us, I guess, in the sense that this position will be able to do the whole division all at the same time because they’re working out of that building,” he said.
The program promotes elements such as an individual sense of autonomy, resilience and physical health and contributes to a culture which fosters a sense of belonging and safety.
Lytwyn explained that they are still in the early stages but plan to hire a combination Wellness Coordinator/Wellness Promotor. In the Prince Albert Catholic Division which runs the program in St. Francis School and St. John Community School the two positions are separate.
“So for us, we’re going to have one person doing both. So they’ll be doing some community engagement, supporting families, supporting the community, supporting students, of course, and then also coming in the school and supporting our staff and our students directly. So it’s going to kind of be a combined position,” Lytwyn said.
He said that the position in the school will bring positives.
“We’re really thrilled because I think one of the big proponents or purposes of mental health and support is going to be kind of that proactive support. So my hope would always be that this position can help do some preventative mental health supports for families, for our students, for our staff, potentially. So I think that’s a huge positive,” he said.
He looks forward to it benefitting students and families in the division.
“One of the things that I’m excited about is kind of the person working with the students and the families is kind of teaching those lifelong skills and building resiliency for young people and their families. So I think that’s a really exciting thing. That will be a huge asset for our division, for sure.
The program is now delivered jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Saskatchewan Health Authority the program has expanded into six school divisions in 2025-26 Saskatoon Public, Ile-a-la Crosse, Prairie Spirit, Lloydminster Catholic, Chinook and Creighton. As outlined in the government’s Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions 2023-2028, the goal is to include all 27 school divisions by 2028.
Lytwyn said that the program also connects to the Strategic Plan for the division.
“Our strategic plan kind of has four main action areas and one of the four is supporting mental wellness So it’s very important to the board. It’s very important to the division.
And so it’s just we’re really excited about this opportunity. It’s amazing,” Lytwyn said.
Minister of Education Everett Hindley was happy to see the division come aboard.
“On a recent visit to Creighton and Denare Beach, I asked community leaders what additional steps that the Ministry of Education could take to support the mental health needs of students,” Hindley said in a release. “Not only is this program important to supporting mental health and students, but it also comes at a time where the families and students in this community have been greatly impacted by wildfires this past year. This is why, as a government, we are very pleased to extend this valuable resource to them which builds capacity for them and for their families, caregivers, staff and communities to work together toward a healthy school environment.”