Saskatchewan is clearly into the investment phase of its economic cycle.
As a commodity producer, this province’s economy is subject to the ups and downs of global markets – generally in 15-year cycles… seven years up and seven years down.
Right now, we’re in the middle of the up phase. And with that comes a push towards investment.
Generally, it works like this. As we enter an up cycle, things move along pretty well and industry says… we need more of this to ride the uptrend. So, they invest in expansion. That’s where we are right now with somewhere between $15 and $20 billion targeted for new capital expenditures.
One way to track this progress is through building permits which represent the physical structure side of the equation. We’ve just received April’s figures with permit values rising 30-percent compared to this time last year. That is the biggest growth rate in the country, coming at a time when the nation as a whole in pulling back, down 15-percent from the same point a year ago.
