Did you know that Saskatchewan is more than just your neighborhood-friendly province? Believe it or not, Saskatchewan holds resources that Canada as a whole widely benefits from. Saskatchewan is often referred to as just one of the many provinces of Canada but the province is actually instrumental to Canada’s progress as a country. This is true for Saskatchewan’s mining, agriculture, and energy sectors.
For mining, Saskatchewan boasts having many minerals to its name. More specifically, it produces the following minerals: potash, uranium, helium, and lithium. Each of these minerals are highly necessary for Canada’s overall development. Uranium and helium are primarily used for technological developments, which means that Canada has a stable source of these minerals for constant scientific research and innovations. Uranium is also relevant when it comes to energy, which is a topic tackled later in the article. In line with this is how Saskatchewan serves as the stable source of Canada’s lithium, which is used in crafting electrical gadgets such as laptops and smartphones; this ensures that Canada has ample resources for creating such necessary gadgets. On the other hand, as potash is used for agricultural endeavors, Canada’s agricultural activities benefit from the fact that Saskatchewan is the world’s most prominent potash producer. This means that Saskatchewan’s mining strengths lead to benefitting multiple economic activities of Canada. Apart from the four most important minerals, other minerals were found in Saskatchewan that offer usefulness to Canada as a whole such as lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc, and rare earth elements (REE) such as cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium and neodymium. According to the Financial Times, these minerals were deemed necessary for Canada to establish international economic security, sustain a growing population, and create a low-carbon future.
For agriculture, Saskatchewan is a leading supplier of agricultural products for a large number of international trading partners. This may be due to the fact that Saskatchewan has a whopping 40% of Canada’s farmland, which is worth over six million hectares of land. Products usually exported by the province are dry peas, lentils, durum, canola oil, canola meal, canary seed and oats. In 2022, Saskatchewan was able to export 375 million dollars worth of agricultural food products. The countries who received said exports were the United States, China, Japan, Mexico, Algeria, Italy, Morocco, India, Turkey, and Bangladesh. It is for these reasons that Saskatchewan’s agricultural sector highly boosts Canada’s international economic activity and greatly contributes to the country’s overall Gross Domestic Product.
For energy, Saskatchewan is a pioneer in renewable energy. More specifically, the province makes use of some of the lowest carbon-intensity energy products available in the whole world. The province’s Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre wants to make Saskatchewan even more competitive in environmentally-friendly energy in Canada by investing in carbon capture utilization and storage technology and infrastructure. Although the province mainly uses natural gas, Saskatchewan will still also invest in enhanced oil recovery, which Eyre states “emits 82 per cent fewer emissions than traditional extraction methods.” One more way Saskatchewan contributes to Canada’s path to environmentally-sustainable energy is by producing uranium, which is a green energy fuel. This means that Canada has constant access to energy that is environmentally-sustainable and in turn, showcases promise in balancing energy efficiency and environmental consciousness.
Because of Saskatchewan’s developments in mining, agriculture, and energy, it proves to be a necessary component in Canada’s overall growth as a country. By focusing on the aforementioned strengths of Saskatchewan, Canada may benefit more from the potential the province showcases.
