As the Saskatchewan Construction Association warned would happen over a year ago, the addition of PST to construction contracts is drastically impacting Saskatchewan’s construction industry. Today, Statistics Canada released the latest value of building permits report from August and it shows the average building permit in Saskatchewan has dropped by 32.9 per cent since August 2017.
“Removing the PST exemption has hit Saskatchewan’s construction industry hard,” said NDP Housing Critic Nicole Rancourt. “We’re already losing people to other provinces due to a lack of job opportunities and lower wages, and that policy choice only made the situation worse.”