REGINA — The provincial government is enthused about the latest jobs numbers for March.
At a news conference Friday at the SaskJobs office in Regina, Lumsden-Morse MLA Blaine McLeod pointed to the latest labour numbers from Statistics Canada. He reported that the province added 15,000 full-time mortgage-paying jobs in March.
“Let me repeat that — 15,000 full-time mortgage-paying jobs in the month of March,” said McLeod. He added that the month-to-month growth rate is second among the provinces and said Saskatchewan's unemployment rate of five per cent is “the absolute lowest amongst the provinces."
“This is well below the national average of 6.7 per cent. In my math, that's 1.7 per cent below the national average, and down from 5.6 per cent a month ago. We had a bit of a blip last month, but we're back on track and doing great.”
For youth employment, McLeod pointed to Saskatchewan being up by 3,600 jobs compared to a year ago, an increase of 4.6 per cent. Youth unemployment is the third lowest among provinces at 9.8 per cent, below the national rate of 13.8.
McLeod also pointed to “major, major growth right here in Regina, with 7,800 jobs added.”
Saskatchewan also posted gains in many of the key sectors. Jobs in health care and social assistance saw an increase of 6,800, up 6.8 per cent. Other services, such as personal and repair services, saw an increase of 4,800, up 19.7 per cent.
“And I know that there are lots of jobs in that repair sector because I hear the farm equipment dealerships always crying for more, more, more,” said McLeod. He said they are saying “we’ll train you, we'll equip you, we'll just bend over backwards to allow you to get working here in Saskatchewan.”
McLeod pointed to the government investment of nearly $125 million in 2026-27 into programs to ensure Saskatchewan residents get the skills and education they require to secure employment and benefit from a strong economy. He also pointed to the government’s Labour Market Strategy released in 2024.
“This economic growth is not something that just happened. It's a result of our government working alongside employers and industry leaders to create an environment that attracts investment and creates the jobs.”
As for why there was such a big increase in March in particular, McLeod pointed to “the economic activity that's happening in our province and people lining up to get ready for that summer construction season. I'm sure that would be a part of it. The needs in health care and those areas as well I'm sure are a portion of it.”
He also pointed to “$60 billion from 60 different investment companies and projects being managed here in this province. I think that's a big part of it.”
McLeod described Saskatchewan as being in a growth mode, while it seemed the rest of Canada is “on the ‘let's try and maintain and hold what we have.’”
“But Saskatchewan is pulling above our weight in that regard with the growth that's there,” he said.
