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Official Opposition sounds alarm on Saskatchewan's population decline

Young: Worst in the country out-migration shows need for real action on jobs

REGINA - For the third year in a row Saskatchewan had the largest net population loss to other provinces and territories in the country. For the first time in 15 years, 2020 ended with fewer people choosing to live and work in Saskatchewan than when the year began. The Official Opposition says that these new Statistics Canada numbers, coupled with 23,000 job losses in the past year, paints a worrying picture for the months ahead in Saskatchewan.

“For years Brad Wall liked to hang his hat on increasing Saskatchewan’s population, but since Scott Moe has been premier we’ve seen too much shrinkage with tens of thousands of people lost to other provinces,” said NDP Jobs and Economy critic Aleana Young. “The most recent numbers show that our economy was struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and now it’s a definite trend.”

Saskatchewan is the only province in the country to see this consistent level of population decline, the next closest province is Newfoundland and Labrador. Former Premier Brad Wall had previously made it a priority to increase the number of people in the province, but since Premier Scott Moe took office three years ago, over 70,000 people have left the province.

“This is the type of trend that simply can’t continue. Our unemployment numbers are rising and our population is shrinking and Scott Moe doesn’t seem to have a plan at all. He’s too busy patting himself on the back for his abysmal handling of the pandemic.” said Young. “We need real practical action to stop people leaving and to do that we need to get people back to work and create more jobs.”

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