Paul Martin commentary
The Saskatchewan commercial sector is a holding-its-own pattern these days.
Unsettling geopolitical developments in recent months piled on to the tariff situation are making it harder for companies at a time when many are still trying to recover from COVID.
But new numbers on the ability of business people to manage their way through these obstacles coupled with the unending urge for new players to join the game show Saskatchewan is keeping up.
All told, there are about 25,000 active businesses in the province. That number really hasn’t changed much, even though we have experienced consistent population growth. In the last six months, that figured changed very little – up a dozen or two or down a dozen or two each month.
But it was not completely static. Those are net numbers meaning we had roughly as many new start-ups as closures: roughly 1,200 a month on each count.Broken down a bit further, Saskatoon has roughly 8,300 businesses, adding 380 a month and losing the same number between November and February. Regina’s aggregate is 6,200 and it gained 280, lost 260
