Legislative Report
May 11, 2023

Investments in Economic Growth Strategies

Saskatchewan recently recognized Economic Development Week and Indigenous Economic Development Day, dedicated to highlighting the value of economic development and its role in Saskatchewan’s growth. Saskatchewan is experiencing strong economic growth; the province’s GDP increased by 5.7 per cent from 2021 to 2022, the highest growth rate in Canada. The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry saw the highest rate of change, a 45.6 per cent increase in GDP.

In the 2023-24 Provincial Budget, our government has continued to invest in further economic growth. This budget continues to position Saskatchewan as a global leader in the exploration and mining of critical minerals. Saskatchewan has occurrences of 23 of the 31 critical minerals on the Canadian Critical Minerals List and some of them, such as potash and uranium, are in world-class deposits. Critical minerals are key for securing the future of our economy and are used in products such as mobile phones, solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and medical devices.

Our government is expanding the Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive to include exploration drilling for all hard-rock minerals and increased funding to support emerging commodities. The Saskatchewan Mineral Exploration Tax Credit is being tripled, from 10 per cent to 30 per cent, to help attract additional mineral exploration investment and make us more competitive with other jurisdictions. Another investment will improve geoscience data, used by exploration companies as they consider projects, allowing geoscientists to compile and analyze broader amounts of data, improving the information provided to explorers and stakeholders.

For the agricultural sector, the budget includes a 19 per cent increase to fund programs, services, research and business risk management solutions. Our government has finalized the new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) with the federal government, which includes enhanced strategic programming for Saskatchewan producers and will see investment of more than $89 million per year. Under the Sustainable CAP, flagship programs such as the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program will continue, helping producers develop secure and sustainable water sources to mitigate the impact of drought. A further investment of $408 million will support a suite of risk management programs, including Crop Insurance, AgriStability and Wildlife Damage Insurance.

The budget extends the Saskatchewan Manufacturing and Processing Exporter Tax Incentive until December 31, 2023. The incentive provides non-refundable tax credits to eligible corporations to increase the number of manufacturing and processing-related full-time employees. In addition, the small business tax rate reduction, which was extended in the summer of 2022, will remain at 0 per cent until July 1, 2023. The extension helps 31,000 Saskatchewan small businesses address challenges like inflationary pressures, interest rate hikes and labour shortages. Total savings through the reduction are estimated to reach $435 million for Saskatchewan’s small businesses.

The Saskatchewan Indigenous Investment Finance Corporation (SIIFC) will see an investment of $75 million. Launched in 2022, the SIIFC supports Indigenous-equity ownership of major projects in mining, energy, oil and gas, forestry, and value-added agriculture. This corporation is helping to reach the Growth Plan goal of growing Indigenous participation in our natural resource industries.

The budget includes $1.4 million to establish a trade office in Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy. Together with funding to support trade with the United States, this brings the total International Trade and Investment Strategy to $19.3 million to advance economic interests abroad. Our expanded international presence includes trade offices in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Vietnam, Japan, India, Singapore and China.

These investments in economic growth are paying off. The 2022 Real Gross Domestic Product report released earlier this month by Statistics Canada showed Saskatchewan with the highest increase among provinces, with a 5.7 per cent jump from 2021. On the labour force front, Saskatchewan has seen 25 consecutive months of job growth. Our unemployment rate is just 4.8 per cent, which is below the national average and second among the provinces. Private investment in the province has reached $32 billion in recent years, committed to over 80 large-scale projects in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and processing, forestry, mining, and oil and gas extraction. Saskatchewan’s total merchandise exports reached $52 billion in 2022, up 41.5 per cent from the year before, and more exports abroad means more jobs here in the province.

Investments in economic growth continue to create growth that works for everyone. To learn more, please visit Saskatchewan.ca.