The City of Prince Albert turned down an application to turn this home on Linner Lane into a group home. (Image Credit: Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

Linner Lane group home

City denies group home application, questions letter authenticity 

Feb 24, 2026 | 5:04 PM

A seemingly routine application to use a house in Crescent Acres as a group home became less than routine after Prince Albert city councillors voted yesterday to deny the application.  

The application is for a development permit for a residential care home for up to eight children/youth who need emergency or temporary placement due to unstable home environments, similar to a foster home.  

Multiple reasons for the denial were given, including questions about the authenticity of a letter against the home from Social Services that claimed over 80 group homes and foster homes already operate in and around the city, and the need for more is low.  

“In regard to current need for Residential Care Homes, the demand is low at this time and data does not indicate a significant unmet need for additional facilities. As per Government of Saskatchewan recommendations, for a Residential Care home to meet Ministry standards, a facility should have a least two points of access to ensure safe and efficient entry and exit at all times, a cul-de-sac would not meet these standards,” said the letter.  

Councillors questioned how real the letter was and learned three copies were received through regular mail: one to the city clerk’s office, one to the mayor’s office and a third to Councillor Stephen Ring, whose ward Linner Lane is located in.  

Linner Lane group home

City denies group home application, questions letter authenticity

1h ago

Crime

Over a dozen charges laid after car jacking in Northern Saskatchewan

5h ago

Court proceedings

Prince Albert sexual assault results in three-year sentence

6h ago

There is no name under the signature, which is not legible.

According to the province, they have not written any letters regarding group homes to the City of Prince Albert. (Image Credit: screenshot/City of Prince Albert council agenda.)

The Ministry of Social Services confirmed to paNOW that they have not written any letters to the City of Prince Albert regarding group homes.  

Neither the legislation nor regulations regarding group homes involve rules about cul de sacs.  

Coun. Blake Edwards said the city needs to do some digging to find out who wrote the Social Services letter as going that far is a serious step.

“I think we need to find out who created that letter. I think that needs to be investigated further. You know, someone going to that length to try and deter the vote. Yeah, that’s serious, so hopefully we can find out who authored that letter,” he said.

Some councillors said there are just too many unanswered questions regarding the application.  

“There is a report before us that is not complete, a letter from the applicant that is not complete or matches the report. We have a letter that has come before us that we don’t know who it came from,” said Coun. Dawn Kilmer.  

Ring said he had several concerns, including a meeting between city representatives, members from Ahtahkakoop and the remaining residents of Linner Lane.  

“If you were at that community meeting that we did have, they weren’t ready for the meeting. They did not sell anybody on what they were trying to do there,” he said.  

Ahtahkakoop Child and Family Services has owned the home since 2022. In order to be used as a group home, which is a discretionary use, it needs council approval.  

Aside from the application, council discussed the atmosphere of a meeting between the other residents of Linner Lane and representatives from Ahtahkakoop and a lack of good information in the application.  

Residents’ concerns included property maintenance, inappropriate past use, parking and traffic, the number of care homes allowed in a neighbourhood, the need for new care homes and if the use could change in the future without additional permits.  

Ahtahkakoop said that while they are from the same community, they are not related to previous owners when it comes to operations and functions.  

They said they intend to maintain the property to make sure it is clean and neat, renovate it to meet required codes and that visitation at the location will be limited so family interactions take place in their home community.  

Coun. Dan Brown made the motion to deny the application, explaining during the discussion that he believes that the neighbourhood’s wishes should be taken into account and they did not support the change.  

Once denied, the applicants have to wait six months before coming back with a new application.  

—

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com