Saskatchewan‘s manufacturing sector is probably happy to put what was a tough year in 2024 behind it.
After riding the wave of strong sales for a couple years, Saskatchewan manufacturers saw their fortunes head in a different direction through much of last year.
They ended the year on something of a positive note – sales were up in the two major cities in December but down generally across Saskatchewan – but it was a significant contrast to previous years.
Overall, sales fell 11-percent in 2024 compared to the end of 2023. That was the sharpest decline in the entire country. It was especially noticeable in the major cities: Regina posted a 22-percent decline. The drop in Saskatoon was marginally better at 20-percent.
Those were the biggest declines among the nation’s largest cities. In fact, most of them were posting gains on a year-over-year basis.
The largest shifts were seen in the auto industry and manufacturing of petroleum products. And this, of course, all happened prior to Donald Trump beginning to talk in earnest about tariffs and being particularly critical of Canada.
