MLA David Chan praises Yorkton-area job-growth numbers

(Fruzsina de Cloedt / CTV News)

Saskatchewan Party MLA for Yorkton David Chan held a media event in Yorkton on Friday, praising the province for its job-growth numbers.

“While the labour market is only one metric, it is a strong one, and one that I’m happy to talk about,” he said in his speech.

He called on the media to talk about the latest Statistics Canada data on Saskatchewan’s labour force.

“2025 was a year of incredible growth for our province. We saw record jobs added and had the lowest unemployment rate among the provinces,” Chan said.

Chan pointed out that the Yorkton-Melville economic region saw a nine per cent increase in employment. Later, he broke down the numbers.

“We saw an increase in the goods producing sectors: 1,900 jobs, 18.1 per cent growth,” he said. “The services producing sector [grew] as well, 5.4 per cent growth, [which is] 1,400 jobs.”

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Yorkton-Melville also saw the lowest unemployment rate amongst Saskatchewan’s five economic regions.

“These positive trends are now continuing into the new year,” he added.

To questions whether the provincial government is planning on supporting this growth with housing, Chan said the government has done a lot.

“We have the [Saskatchewan Secondary Suite Incentive Grant Program],” he said. “We’re using our policy tools to stimulate growth. And we’re constantly partnering. We’re listening to the Saskatchewan Real Estate Association.”

The Saskatchewan Secondary Suite Incentive Grant Program is designed to increase the availability of rental units, improve housing affordability, and generate supplementary income for homeowners.

His response came a week after NDP MLA Aleana Young’s visit to Yorkton, where she criticized Premier Scott Moe’s government for the five per cent provincial sale tax on construction projects, calling it a “choke on growth” and “job killing tax.”