Statistics Canada data released Tuesday shows Saskatchewan agricultural exports to the United States have plunged 16.5 per cent, energy exports have dropped 13.4 per cent and forestry product exports have fallen nearly 24 per cent year-to-date.
Meanwhile, despite all this, Premier Scott Moe can’t even bring himself to stand up for Saskatchewan amid the ongoing economic attacks from Donald Trump, pleading late last week for the removal of retaliatory actions by the Canadian federal government and provincial governments.
Moe’s comments came as Trump has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Saskatchewan steel and a tariff of 34 per cent on Saskatchewan lumber.
As well, on August 1, the Sask. Party insisted the province continues to experience “strong economic growth,” while real, hard economic data tells a different story:
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Exports to the United States, Saskatchewan’s largest trading partner, have dropped year-to-date by 13.3 per cent, and exports to China, our second-largest trading partner, have dropped a staggering 26.3 per cent.
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Saskatchewan retail sales dropped 0.2 per cent in the most recent data release.
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The most recent private sector forecast from the TD Bank predicts a decline in economic growth from the province’s projected growth rates by 22% in 2025 and 40% in 2026.
“Let’s be clear — Scott Moe wants to paint a rosy picture of our province because he has no plan to respond to the Trump trade war and no plan to secure Saskatchewan’s economic future,” said Kim Breckner, Saskatchewan NDP Trade & Export Development Shadow Minister.
“We hear from working people everyday who can barely make ends meet. We see higher financial anxiety in Saskatchewan than anywhere else in Canada. Scott Moe and the Sask. Party might be taking care of their friends and insiders — but they certainly aren’t doing anything to benefit the average working person in our province.”
Moe’s economic record has been plagued by failure from the start. Between 2018, when he became Premier, and 2024, Saskatchewan saw the second-worst rate of job growth in Canada. During the Moe Years, Manitoba created 80,800 jobs while Saskatchewan created 35,700. Nova Scotia, with a smaller population than Saskatchewan, created almost double the number of jobs, 70,400, and PEI, with a population of 179,000, created over 18,000 jobs.
The TD Bank forecasts that in 2026, Saskatchewan will only create 1,200 new jobs.
“We need good-paying jobs and we need a government that’s focused on the future to deliver them,” Breckner said. “Clearly, Scott Moe and the Sask. Party are too busy pandering to Trump by putting American booze on the shelves and signing contracts with American companies to care about Saskatchewan workers and the Saskatchewan economy.”
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