The SHCA Annual Convention is taking place April 7–8, 2022 at the Delta Hotels Bessborough in Saskatoon.
SHCA has secured a special room rate of $154 per night at the Delta Hotels Bessborough; book your room now if you have not already done so.
Sponsorships are still available – contact Jennie Avram for more information.
Book your group rate for the annual Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association Convention.
Used equipment and truck prices reached unprecedented levels in 2021. With its January Market Trends Report, Ritchie Bros. looks closely at earthmoving and aerial equipment sales last year, with in-depth charts outlining volumes, median pricing and more by asset category.
The January 2022 46-page Market Trends Report highlights sales of excavators, dozers, wheel loaders, motor graders, articulated dump trucks, loader backhoes, multi-terrain and skid steer loaders…To download the free report, visit rbassetsolutions.com/market-trends-report
“We attracted a record number of bidders in 2021, resulting in the strongest equipment pricing we have ever seen,” said Doug Olive, senior vice president (Pricing), Ritchie Bros. “It’s a seller’s market and consignors around the world are taking advantage by turning their surplus assets into cash.”
The Government of Saskatchewan will complete the remaining nine kilometres on the Saskatchewan side of the border of the La Loche to Fort McMurray all-weather road, Premier Scott Moe announced on January 20, 2022. Premier Moe also sent a letter to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney asking that his province make a similar commitment to complete the Alberta side.
“An all-weather road between these two northern communities will give employers access to a valuable workforce in northern Saskatchewan, while providing gainful employment and economic development opportunities for the people and communities of this region,” Moe said. “We recognize the need for our governments to work together on completing this project to ensure people in the north benefit from this vital economic and transportation link.”
“This is one more example of our government’s strong commitment to the north,” Moe said.
“There is real economic optimism in our northern communities and the transportation system is a vital part of that from resources associated with mining, forestry, tourism, fishing and other employment and development opportunities,” Highways Minister Fred Bradshaw said.
The road was originally announced as a project to commemorate the two province’s centennials in 2005. Saskatchewan broke ground on Highway 956, its portion of the project, in 2007 and completed 44 of the total 53 kilometres in 2008.
Pre-construction work on the remaining nine kilometres near Garson Lake to the Alberta border will begin this year, with construction expected to be complete by the end of 2023. Alberta has not yet begun construction of its portion of the road.
The Highway 956 project is on top of the nearly $68 million the province is investing in northern transportation infrastructure in the current fiscal year.
RDIEC’s YouTube Channel provides an opportunity for business and industry to reach students all over Saskatchewan and beyond promoting high demand occupations and profiling their best and brightest by providing them with the opportunity to talk about the contribution they make, while sharing their career journey.
As the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus continues to spread in the province, the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) is further extending cost relief to June 30, 2022, for employers to cover costs for accepted work-related COVID-19 claims.
Download Southeast College’s 2022 Industry and Safety Training Calendar and stay up-to-date on various programs offered at Southeast College’s locations across the province, including CPR/First Aid, Confined Space, Ground Disturbance, Fall Arrest and more.
The SHCA Annual Convention is taking place April 7–8, 2022, at the Delta Hotels Bessborough in Saskatoon.
SHCA members are encouraged to book their room at the Delta Hotels Bessborough as soon as possible; SHCA has secured a special room rate of $154 per night.
Members need to book their room before March 7, 2022.
Book your group rate for the annual Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association Convention.
Sponsorships are also available – contact Jennie Avram for more information.
SaskaBoom 2.0 is just a bit more evident now that we’ve seen the mid-year accounting of the provincial government’s income and expenditure.
The big story emerging from the Q2 summary is on the revenue side.
Tax revenues – income and sales levies – rose sharply, more than $600 million ahead of the budgeted estimate only six months ago. Add to that a dramatic rise in resource royalties. They were up $669 million. All other income streams – Crown corporation profits, transfers from Ottawa and other own-sources – were also ahead of estimate.
On the downside, spending on healthcare due to COVID was up and the drought triggered payments of $2.4 billion directly to farmers from the provincial treasury. That cash flow will no doubt result in further sales tax revenues down the road, when the bills for crop year 2021 are paid.
The underlying story in this, though, is the upward trend line. Droughts, while financially painful, tend to be short-lived (the Dirty Thirties excepted) so the next 18 months should be interesting. And here’s what to watch.
Government accounts are an indicator of an economy’s direction but they are a lagging indicator. When tax revenues, for example, are rising, it signals growth in income levels across the economy. But it can take a while for the numbers to show up. Consider this: A dollar of income earned in January is included in the annual total which is tallied at the end of December of that year, and then reported on a tax return the following April. So, that dollar generated in January doesn’t show up in the government’s books until at least 16 months after it is earned … a lagging indicator. Technically, it is a bit longer, but you get the drift.
Resource revenues tend to have shorter reporting cycles but are still a trailing indicator.
Nonetheless, what the mid-year report with a $2.4 billion increase in revenue compared to the spring budget shows is that the boom has been entrenched for months. We’re just getting the numbers to define its magnitude now.
Many in commodity-based industries in this province – sectors such as mining – operate on a theory that commodity cycles tend to last 15 years … seven up, seven down and one in transition. History tells us that the last downturn came in November of 2014, exactly seven years before the Finance Minister tabled her mid-year report.
In other words, we’re in the early stages of a cycle that shifted our economy from the doldrums to the upcycle and now we have the numbers to prove it. Enjoy the ride.
The boom has been entrenched for months. We’re just getting the numbers to define its magnitude now.
