Saskatchewan Training School becomes second largest industry in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

1965. The government’s vision for the $8 million Saskatchewan Training School (STS), created to care for the mentally handicapped, was to make it as self-sufficient as possible, thus attempting to keep costs low, while at the same time teach the residents how to farm, bake bread, and do other tasks that would help them secure a job (or be as autonomous as they could) once they left the school. Still, with “self-sufficient” being a goal, one reporter estimated that on a yearly basis the school would cost “in the neighborhood of $1,500,000” to run. “Of this amount, slightly over one million will be paid out in salaries” ($8 Million Training School, 1955, p.23). The school was a big, but essential, annual investment for the government. The government was investing while the residents, the families, and the city of Moose Jaw were reaping the benefits. For by 1965, STS “was the second biggest industry in Moose Jaw – only the airbase was bigger” (Black, 2011, p.16).

While the eventual goal was the make STS a type of self-sufficient village, it took some time for the government and the staff to work toward that vision. In the first years of operation, the school took in many of the items it would later attempt to manufacture. On a monthly basis it had “22,500 pounds of bread, 11,000 quarts of milk, 13,000 pounds of meat and fish, and 450 bushels of potatoes” delivered and it was the city and the region that provided those items. ($8,000,000 Centre, 1955, p.1)

The city’s mayor at the opening ceremony stated that the new school would be a financial boon to the city. While Premier Douglas was extolling the virtues the school would have for the residents, Mayor L. H. Lewry noted that it would be a benefit to the city of Moose Jaw. He was right. He pointed out on stage that the government had not built any public buildings in the Moose Jaw district for the past 30 years. With the building of STS, however, the government had “atoned for this.” ($8,000,000 Centre, 1955, p.1) The school would be, and was a financial benefit to the city. He envisioned the city limits would spread south past the five mile distant school. While this dream never materialized, the school did end up becoming the second largest industry to the city and the region.

-Blaine Wickham

  • Black, D. (2011, Spring) Form Follows Function. Worth: Saskatchewan’s Architectural Heritage Magazine, 12-16.

  • School was Designed as Modern Community. (1955, May 13) Moose Jaw Times-Herald, p. 22.

  • $8,000,000 Centre for Mentally Retarded Open. (1955, May 19). The Leader-Post, p. 1, 3.

  • $8 Million Training School is Most Modern in Canada (1955, May 13). Moose Jaw Times-Herald, p. 23.

  • Wickham, B. (2012, September). Valley View Centre Moose Jaw: Report prepared for the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport. Retrieved from http://www.tpcs.gov.sk.ca/VVC

Saskatchewan Training School becomes second largest industry in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

1965. The government’s vision for the $8 million Saskatchewan Training School (STS), created to care for the mentally handicapped, was to make it as self-sufficient as possible, thus attempting to keep costs low, while at the same time teach the residents how to farm, bake bread, and do other tasks that would help them secure a job (or be as autonomous as they could) once they left the school. Still, with “self-sufficient” being a goal, one reporter estimated that on a yearly basis the school would cost “in the neighborhood of $1,500,000” to run. “Of this amount, slightly over one million will be paid out in salaries” ($8 Million Training School, 1955, p.23). The school was a big, but essential, annual investment for the government. The government was investing while the residents, the families, and the city of Moose Jaw were reaping the benefits. For by 1965, STS “was the second biggest industry in Moose Jaw – only the airbase was bigger” (Black, 2011, p.16).

While the eventual goal was the make STS a type of self-sufficient village, it took some time for the government and the staff to work toward that vision. In the first years of operation, the school took in many of the items it would later attempt to manufacture. On a monthly basis it had “22,500 pounds of bread, 11,000 quarts of milk, 13,000 pounds of meat and fish, and 450 bushels of potatoes” delivered and it was the city and the region that provided those items. ($8,000,000 Centre, 1955, p.1)

The city’s mayor at the opening ceremony stated that the new school would be a financial boon to the city. While Premier Douglas was extolling the virtues the school would have for the residents, Mayor L. H. Lewry noted that it would be a benefit to the city of Moose Jaw. He was right. He pointed out on stage that the government had not built any public buildings in the Moose Jaw district for the past 30 years. With the building of STS, however, the government had “atoned for this.” ($8,000,000 Centre, 1955, p.1) The school would be, and was a financial benefit to the city. He envisioned the city limits would spread south past the five mile distant school. While this dream never materialized, the school did end up becoming the second largest industry to the city and the region.

-Blaine Wickham

  • Black, D. (2011, Spring) Form Follows Function. Worth: Saskatchewan’s Architectural Heritage Magazine, 12-16.

  • School was Designed as Modern Community. (1955, May 13) Moose Jaw Times-Herald, p. 22.

  • $8,000,000 Centre for Mentally Retarded Open. (1955, May 19). The Leader-Post, p. 1, 3.

  • $8 Million Training School is Most Modern in Canada (1955, May 13). Moose Jaw Times-Herald, p. 23.

  • Wickham, B. (2012, September). Valley View Centre Moose Jaw: Report prepared for the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport. Retrieved from http://www.tpcs.gov.sk.ca/VVC