‘First thing out of the gate’: Saskatchewan budget to address tariffs from two fronts

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This article was published 18/03/2025 (557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s finance minister says more details are coming Wednesday as the province introduces a 2025 budget facing a vise-squeeze from both China and the United States.

“The first thing out of the gate is a discussion on tariffs,” Jim Reiter told reporters Tuesday. 

“The U.S. have gotten most of the public attention, but the Chinese tariffs on canola are going to have a huge impact on Saskatchewan.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and plans to apply additional levies April 2. The federal government has retaliated with 25 per cent tariffs on U.S. goods worth $29.8 billion. 

Meanwhile, China plans to hit Canada with retaliatory tariffs of 100 per cent on canola oil, meal and peas. It’s in response to Canada applying levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.

Saskatchewan produces more than half of the canola grown nationally.

The budget document is titled “Delivering for you.” 

Reiter said it will focus on the priorities laid out during last fall’s election campaign, where the Saskatchewan Party won its fifth consecutive majority but with fewer seats. 

“I’m very happy, very comfortable with where we landed,” he said. 

Premier Scott Moe has already divulged some of what is coming.

He has said the province is to boost spending on health care, education and crime reduction. Investment in those areas is meant to reduce surgical wait times, improve Grade 3 reading levels and make communities safer. 

Moe has also pledged to freeze the education property tax while providing more dollars to municipalities.

The Saskatchewan Party’s election platform promised deficits in the first three years to accommodate increased spending. 

It also pledged broad-based tax relief to save an average family of four more than $3,400 over four years. That promise was kept through legislation passed last year. 

Reiter purchased new shoes for the budget as per parliamentary tradition.

He said they were made in India from a U.K. company, as he avoided ones from China or the United States. He added it’s difficult to find Canadian-made shoes. 

They are also black, he said. 

“I’ll let you read into that what you will,” he said, declining to say whether the province will post a deficit (red ink) or a surplus (black ink).

“It’ll look good with my black suit.”

The spring sitting of the provincial legislature is also set to resume Wednesday. 

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP says it wants the province to move urgently on hiring more health-care workers to reduce wait-lists. 

Some breast cancer patients in the province have also been sent to Calgary for screening because of a lack of availability.

“It shouldn’t be too much to ask for a mammogram close to home,” Brittney Senger, the status of women critic, said in a statement.

“Women shouldn’t have to fly to Calgary and pay out of pocket for a life-saving procedure that used to be available here. 

“This is Saskatchewan — not the United States.”

The NDP also plans to introduce a motion this week calling on legislators to condemn Trump for wanting to annex Canada and imposing tariffs on Canadian goods. 

The province’s 61-seat legislature is made up of 34 governing Saskatchewan Party members and 27 from the Opposition NDP. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.