Paul Martin's Business Update - September 23rd, 2014

The emergence of Saskatchewan’s manufacturing sector is one of those unheralded but important business stories that has been quietly building for several years. We tend to look at these numbers on a month-to-month basis and don’t see the story as clearly as when we step back a bit and look at the bigger picture.

Last week, for example, the monthly numbers on manufacturing were released showing a full percentage point increase from June to July. Impressive but it’s a snapshot, not a panoramic view.

That broader picture was released by StatsCan this week as it examined how Canadian manufacturers have fared over a two-year period, comparing 2012 to 2013. Here the Saskatchewan story is much clearer.

Total sales volumes generated by plants in this province grew by almost $1.5 billion to just under $16 billion for the year. That represented a 10 per cent improvement over 2012, by far the largest increase in the country as some provinces were showing declines. And Manitoba – a good comparable for us – saw sales increase by only $30 million with their aggregate sales now lower than ours.

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