Alberta-based The Mustard Seed to manage The Lighthouse in Saskatoon

Alberta-based Christian non-profit group The Mustard Seed, will  take over the property management and supportive housing services of downtown Saskatoon’s The Lighthouse on Dec. 1.

During a news conference Thursday, James Gardiner, The Mustard Seed CEO, said his group was partnering with the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and the Saskatoon Housing Authority to continue to offer safe, stable housing with wrap-around supports over the next five years.

“We’re coming in to serve the people that are there – the 60 residents – in terms of managing the building, providing the supports, and food and whatnot for the people that are there,” he explained.

But Gardiner said its goal is to also relocate those already living in the building within the next two years, something that could prove challenging without the support of the local housing authority.

“That’s unidentified. We don’t know where that’s going to be,” he added. “It could be an existing building, it could be maybe a new building, It could potentially be two, 30-bed sites.”

When asked, Gardiner could not provide details on how much the five-year contract was worth.

The Mustard Seed Presentation at the Bessborough Hotel  (Shane Clausing/650 CKOM)

Lighthouse Controversies

The operators of The Lighthouse Supportive Living and its board of directors have seen their fair share of controversy over the last several years.

In early 2022, the Saskatoon Fire Department issued dozens of Fire Safety Act violations, then a few months later in June, former social services Minister Gene Makowsky announced funding to the non-profit would be cut, and some services moved out of the building.

By February 2023, two former Lighthouse co-managing board of directors each filed affidavits, and called for an interim receiver to take over the financial operations of the Lighthouse and Blue Mountain Adventure Park, alleging years of financial mismanagement.

Days later, a Saskatoon judge approved the application for receivership to MNP Ltd.

By December 2023, the building was sold to the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, with plans to eventually transition resident to other suitable accommodations.

Those alternate accommodations have not yet been identified.
 
— with files from 650 CKOM’s Shane Clausing