The provincial government highlighted the latest employment numbers from Statistics Canada at a growing international business in Saskatchewan. EnviroWay has green cleaning products it ships to 20 countries and has gone from one person back in 1987 to a staff of 300. President and CEO, Bob Behari, says the growth is in part thanks to support from the government. He explains that not only is the product safe for the environment, it’s also concentrated so one jug replaces 250 jugs, meaning less plastic, and less poundage in transportation, and therefore lower carbon emissions.

EnviroWay also worked with the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs during the pandemic, when certain cleaning products were difficult to find. The BATC used Enviroway’s plant to develop its own products including hand sanitizers, dish soap and multi-purpose cleaners. It grew to becoming a business called Nikihk, which in Plains Cree means my home, and is now sold in Sobeys stores in Saskatchewan, and the goal is to expand across the country.

MLA Ken Cheveldayoff spoke on behalf of the Minister of Trade and Export Development, Jeremy Harrison, touting the Statistics Canada numbers which indicate full-time employment increased by 8,000 from February of last year to this year, and overall, there were 9,400 new jobs. He reported that Saskatchewan has now seen 23 months of continuous year-over-year job growth.

There are always different ways to crunch the numbers though. The NDP says despite a small bump in employment last month, Saskatchewan remains last in total job creation among the provinces and last in full-time job creation since Scott Moe was appointed premier in February 2018.