Every time you pick up a newspaper or watch the news on TV, you probably hear about how shaky the economy is. Layoffs, business closures, plummeting stocks and financial woes have dominated the news for months. Thousands of people are being laid off, and it appears that no job is safe. Being a student, especially in your last year, you may think the outlook is pretty bleak. However, what would you say if I told you there are places in Canada where the job markets are growing? Such places do exist and believe it or not, one of them is Saskatchewan!

Close your eyes. What do you picture when you hear ‘Saskatchewan?’ You are probably envisioning flat farmland filled with wheat fields. However, while this is often the stereotypical view many have of Saskatchewan, there is much more to this province than farming and agriculture. Saskatchewan has a very rich history, dating back more than 6,000 years, even though European settlers did not begin flocking to the area until the 1800s. Promises of inexpensive land and the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought population growth that lasted until the early 1910s. 

Despite the early population boom, the Great Depression hit the province hard. This saw a major drop in population, as hundreds of thousands of people left for other areas of Canada and even the United States. Although farms began to eventually prosper again, population loss continued to be a general trend in Saskatchewan for many years. (Read more at the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, www.esask.ca).

Finally, in 2008, the rest of the country was taking notice as the province gained ground. The Labour Force Survey released by Statistics Canada in September 2008 indicated that Saskatchewan is leading the country in several economic categories, including economic growth, retail sales growth and new construction growth. With this growth comes employment growth, and in August 2008 alone, there were more than 15,000 additional people working than in August 2007.   

There are almost 10,000 jobs currently available on Saskatchewan job boards, in almost every sector. While the big boom is in the construction and mining sectors, many industries, from retail to finance to marketing, are looking to hire. With the increase in population comes the increase in needs for goods and services, thus the need for workers in the retail, entertainment and food and beverage sectors. Wages are also rising, meaning that there are more people working and they’re making better money. The Canadian Human Resources and Social Development Department (www.hrsdc.gc.ca) indicates that minimum wage in Saskatchewan is $8.60, third highest in Canada after Nunavut ($10.00), and Ontario ($8.75).

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has been all over the news recently, offering incentives for workers to come from other provinces. This past October, Premier Wall announced the largest tax cut in Saskatchewan’s history: Wall has promised a tax break of about $1,320 per year for a family of four, totalling $300 million per year. Along with this announcement, Wall has also promised the elimination of the provincial sales tax, putting Saskatchewanians in the same boat as Albertans.

If you’re a recent grad, you will like Saskatchewan even more. Saskatchewan’s Labour Minister, Rob Norris, announced that every recent grad, from colleges and universities across Canada and beyond, will be eligible for tuition rebates from $3,000 to $20,000, depending on the type and duration of program. Seems too good to be true? Well, there is a small catch: you must live and work in Saskatchewan for at least seven years after graduation. The rebate is then divided over those seven years, with 10% given in each of the first four years and 20% given in each of the last three. For example, if you are graduating with a four-year undergraduate degree from a Canadian university in 2009, you would be eligible for a $10,000 rebate. For each of the first four years, you would receive $1,000 per year. In the last three years, you would receive $2,000 per year.

So, the statistics look great, but now you are probably wondering what you will do with your free time living in Saskatchewan. Regina, the capital city, and Saskatoon are bustling metropolitan centres, each hosting a major university, as well as a host of colleges. The CFL’s (Canadian Football League) Saskatchewan Roughriders call Regina home, and the WHL (Western Hockey League) has a franchise in Saskatoon. If you aren’t into sports, there are many festivals and special events across the province. Saskatoon holds an annual Blues festival, a Shakespearean Festival as well as many other annual festivals and events. Regina is home to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the Saskatchewan Science Centre, the Globe Theatre, a number of art galleries and the RCMP Heritage Museum. Both cities boast an incredible nightlife, as well as hundreds of restaurants featuring every cuisine imaginable. You can also tour two national parks, and if you’re looking for a weekend getaway to Edmonton, it’s only a five-hour drive away. To top it all off, Chatelaine recently named Saskatoon the number one city in Canada for air and water quality.

If you still aren’t convinced that Saskatchewan is a great place to live and work after graduation, then there is no convincing you. With the amount of negative media coverage coming out of the rest of Canada, it is nice to see a glimpse of hope somewhere in the Canadian economy.