Saskatchewan’s manufacturing sector will look back on 2025 as the year of nothing special.
The year-end numbers for the sector were released this week showing December was a bit of an up month compared to November – moving just marginally higher – which left the industry grouping with overall annual revenues almost identical to 2024. Nothing special either way.
We entered the year on the crest of a wave that had been rolling for quite a while but the Trump tariffs changed the landscape completely. By year end factories had tightened up their operations and sales, surprisingly, held up better than had been projected.
Locally, operations in Regina felt the pinch more than those in Saskatoon.
Revenues fell by 16-percent in the Queen City in 2025 compared to a decline of just over one-percent in Saskatoon. Regina counts the refinery among its biggest manufacturing players with the petroleum sector producing the biggest fall in total revenue nationally on the back of falling oil prices even though volumes may not have changed significantly.
