Sectors of Strength

You may have heard: Saskatoon is booming and it’s true. The city is the largest in Saskatchewan, a province that boasts one of Western Canada’s most diversified economies.

Saskatoon ranks near the top in a group of Canada’s fastest-growing cities. We’ve worked hard to earn the “Science City” reputation, and as you’ll see, our diverse economy helps drive Saskatchewan forward and keep Canada competitive.

Projections show that food production must double by 2050 to feed the world's growing population. We are working to strengthen Saskatchewan's agricultural leadership with new science, technology and policies to help feed a hungry world adequately, safely and sustainably. Cutting-edge agricultural research clusters have made Saskatoon a world leader in the field.

• Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) – focuses on research and technology development that has the potential to improve agriculture in the developed and developing world.
• Canadian Feed Research Centre - develops and commercializes new and better high-value animal feeds from low-value crops from bioprocessing and biofuels industries.
• Crop Development Centre – improves economic returns for farmers and Western Canada’s agriculture industry by improving existing crops, creating new uses for traditional crops and developing new crops.
• Livestock and Forage Centre – designed to address forage, cow-calf, beef cattle, and environmental needs.
• Protein Industries Canada (PIC) – named as one of five Innovation Super Cluster Initiatives to share in $950 million in federal funding. A Saskatoon-based consortium played a major role in securing the funding for PIC, which is focused on developing more efficient, plant-based proteins. PIC’s mandate includes crop breeding, agricultural crop production and food processing, along with global exportation of these proteins and food products.
   

  ---

   

• Saskatchewan Centre for Cyclotron Sciences – a world-class centre for research, training and innovation in nuclear medicine, including radiochemistry, physics and development of new radiopharmaceuticals for medical imaging.
• We’re a national leader in community-engaged health research, particularly in using robotic technology (“doctor in a box”) to deliver health care to rural communities. Remote telerobotic health monitoring is changing how we diagnose and treat chronic diseases.
• Canadian Light Source - a cutting-edge synchrotron radiation facility used by scientists from around the globe. Research ranges from mine tailing remediation to cancer research and materials development.
• Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization – International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) – a world leader in infectious disease research and vaccine development.
   

  ---

   

• Vendasta provides digital tools that offer an all-in-one solution for Cloud Brokers who work with small and medium businesses. Their tools are designed to improve work efficiency through generating leads, business automation, adding products to digital marketing, and performance maintenance.
• Coconut Software – an online appointment booking system that is used by companies like London Drugs, Rogers and TELUS. The company recently announced $4.2 million dollars in funding.
• Solido Design Automation Inc. –  machine-learning technology used by world-renowned companies such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, IBM and Apple. The company was acquired by Siemens and renamed Mentor Graphics.
• 7Shifts Inc. – developed a scheduling app for restaurants. The company currently services 4,000 restaurants worldwide and recently raised $4.5 million investment dollars.
• Co.Labs – Saskatchewan’s first technology incubator to support early-stage technology startups. Co.Labs is also a collaborative community gathering point for innovators, builders and creators.
   

  ---

   

• Cameco – headquartered in Saskatoon and operates two of the world’s largest, high-grade uranium mines: McArthur River and Cigar Lake. In 2016, Cameco produced 34.6 million pounds of uranium.
• Nutrien – headquartered in Saskatoon; has nearly 20,000 employees, operations and investments in 14 countries. Nutrien’s crop inputs and services reach every major growing region of the world.
• K+S Potash Canada – headquartered in Saskatoon. K+S began operations as its new Bethune mine in 2017 – the first new potash mine to be built in Saskatchewan in the last forty years. Annual production is estimated to be 2 million tonnes.
• Orano – headquartered in Saskatoon. One of the world’s leading uranium exploration, mining and milling companies, Orano develops large-scale, high-grade uranium deposits in northern Saskatchewan.
• BHP Billiton – the leading global resources company’s division office is in downtown Saskatoon.