Sheila Bautz
Special to the Herald
The provincial government has credited infrastructure investments and staff service for the success of its Crown Corporations in 2024-25.
In 2024-25, the Saskatchewan Crown Investments Corporation (CIC) made a record infrastructure investment with its provincial subsidiary Crowns. The province highlighted the results upon release of the CIC’s annual report.
The CIC subsidiary Crowns include SaskEnergy, SaskPower, SaskTel, SaskWater, Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan (LGS) and Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).
“Saskatchewan’s Crown sector continues to support the continued growth of our province’s economy through buying local, investing in infrastructure, and delivering essential services to families, communities, businesses and industry,” said Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan Minister of Crown Investments Corporation (CIC). “Our Crown corporations worked diligently in 2024-25 to deliver some of the most affordable utility costs in the country. The Crowns’ record investments in building and maintaining systems continue to support service reliability, local economies and the demand from growth across the province.”
Amongst the subsidiary Crown corporations, SaskEnergy and the Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan (LGS) are credited with improving the overall CIC earnings for the positive financial result. The LGS was first introduced in the Saskatchewan legislation on March 30, 2023, as a new commercial Crown corporation designated to oversee the lottery and gaming policies and management in the province.
In addition, for the first time in SaskWater’s history, the subsidiary Crown surpassed $70 million in revenue. This is due to the SaskWater expansion of an irrigation service along the Saskatoon Southeast Water Supply system. SaskWater collaborated with the Water Security Agency in an effort to support the Saskatchewan Growth Plan.
The Saskatchewan Growth Plan entitled, The Next Decade of Growth 2020-2030, was introduced in November 2019 and is working.
“SaskWater’s role in delivering on our government’s commitment to expanding irrigation will play a key role in strengthening drought resilience, boosting agricultural productivity, and enhancing food security across the province,” Harrison said. “Expanding irrigation capacity also supports the growth of Saskatchewan’s thriving food processing sector and drives broader economic development.”
As a result, the goal of the project was to provide an additional 15,000 irrigated acres to the existing system. Due to SaskWater’s infrastructure, the additional irrigation acres provided a 2.2 per cent increase over the previous year’s revenue margins. Non-potable water sales reached $25.6 million as a result. Non-potable water is water that is not suitable for human consumption. In the previous year, 2024-25, SaskWater recorded $71.1 million with a total comprehensive income of $9.1 million. A comprehensive income is calculated according to the sum of a net income plus the value of the projected or unrealized profits for the same period of time.
For the 2025-26 growing season, the 13,000 new irrigated acres are active. An additional 2,000 acres are in the process of being prepared for water activation in the 2026 growing season.
“SaskWater’s vast expertise and long history in the province’s water sector have equipped us to provide innovative solutions customers are looking for,” said Jacquie Gibney, CEO and Acting President of SaskWater. “We are very proud to be a partner in building strong communities and supporting economic development and growth opportunities in Saskatchewan.”
The Saskatchewan Growth Plan was developed by the provincial government. The plan outlines 20 actions for the 2020s intended to build momentum and empower a strong economy, strong communities and strong families to strengthen the province. Thirty targets to build a robust province are set with goals to be achieve by 2030 and solidify the economic and social strength in the province of Saskatchewan. So far, Saskatchewan has one of the fastest growing economies in the country.
Due to the six main subsidiary Crowns in the province, the collective subsidiary corporations ensured that the CIC was able to provide strong financial returns to the province of Saskatchewan. The subsidiary Crowns assisted with contributing a combined $240 million in dividends to the General Revenue Fund. The revenue supports the current top priorities for residents in the province, which include affordability measures and valuable contributions to provincial health care, education and community safety.
In 2024-25, the Crown corporations united and invested a record $2.2 billion in infrastructures. The bulk portion of the investment resulted from SaskPower. This included providing reliable electricity in the completion of projects such as the Great Plains Power Station near Moose Jaw and construction projects for the Aspen Power station located near Lanigan.
Another capital project that has initiated the attractive investment environment in Saskatchewan is SaskTel. The Crown corporation focused on strengthening the cellular and fiber optic networks. In return, many areas in the province are experiencing accelerated internet speeds, Wi-Fi and 5G mobile technologies in Saskatchewan.
The numerous key areas the CIC sector delivered as requested and prioritized by Saskatchewan residents are extensive. Contributions in funding were made to important areas such as Indigenous education and employment opportunities. As well, traffic safety improvements have been made and continue to occur in the province’s cities, towns and villages. Vital healthcare initiatives in Saskatchewan benefit from the CIC investments, such as the financial contributions toward STARS Air Ambulance. STARS provides critical care and transportation for seriously ill and injured patients. Everything is made possible due to the CIC investments.
There are thousands of non-profit organizations, communities and groups that receive the financial benefits of the CIC sector revenue. The 2024-25 Annual Report for Crown Investments Corporation of Saskatchewan is available on their website at www.cicorp.sk.ca.
