Saskatoon’s economy continues to chug along amid the Omicron wave

Depending on which business you ask, the answer to how Saskatoon’s economy is doing will be different.

The Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA) has its own opinion.

SREDA has been tracking the recovery of the city’s economy since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its latest report card says the city is about 85 per cent recovered.

SREDA’s Economic Recovery Tracker (SERT) noted seven out of 15 sectors (manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, professional, scientific and technical services, health care and social assistance, arts and entertainment, recreation and public administration) have fully recovered or surpassed pre-COVID levels.

“Where that economy was before COVID was around C+, if you’re looking at a report card, we are saying we are 85 per cent back to that C+,” said Alex Fallon, the CEO of SREDA.

“Absolutely, there are some businesses and some sectors that are struggling. What this report does is it looks at the economy as a whole and looks at sectors as a whole.”

Retail sales and manufacturing shipments are both performing above pre-pandemic levels.

Fallon notes just because a particular sector is showing strength, it doesn’t mean everyone is flourishing.

“Less people are maybe going downtown to a small independent restaurant. There’s less office worker traffic in that area. Maybe Saturday shopping numbers are down so those businesses would be struggling,” he said.

“However, when you look at the big chains, they are seeing increased orders, whether that’s people who are coming in or Skip the Dishes. That’s an example of how COVID has changed consumer behaviour and it’s impacting businesses differently.”

Fallon admits the report may not be easy for some to accept. Air travel and hospitality continue to recover at a much slower pace, at 45 per cent and 78 per cent respectively compared to a few years ago.

SERT is an international economic tracking tool that monitors 10 key indicators for Saskatoon’s economy compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The tool, which is the first of its kind in Canada, uses data from Statistics Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, the International Monetary Fund and industry associations.