Saskatchewan’s Crown Corporations collected $551 million in 2024-25, down from $578 million the year prior.
This year, the provincial government strayed away from its usual process of releasing the annual crown corporation reports gradually over the course of several days from Regina. Instead, all seven reports were unveiled Monday in Saskatoon.
In response, the Official Opposition released a statement claiming the province is trying to bury bad news, as the dump of information does not give the media or the public a chance to review it properly.
Minister Responsible for the Crown Corporations Jeremy Harrison says a lot of government procedures take place in Regina, so it’s important to highlight good work that is being done in other centres, such as Saskatoon.
“I actually think we should do this event in even more locations, so next year we’re going to look at doing this in Meadow Lake and have an opportunity to have folks see, and I’m obviously a bit biased in this regard, but our beautiful community there.”
As for releasing all seven reports at once, he says it gives a broader picture of what’s going on across the entire sector. Harrison adds that the NDP had more than enough time to review each report, as access was granted to them on Friday.
As for the reports themselves, detailed at TCU Place on Monday, the corporation that raked in the most was Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan, bringing in a major $223 million, up from $191 million last fiscal year. Meanwhile, other Crown Corporations didn’t do quite as well. Detailed in SaskPower’s report, the crown corporation generated $76 million in net income in 2024-25, down from $184 million the year before. NDP Critic for SaskPower Aleana Young says it’s obvious that this will mean rate hikes in the future.
“This government is mismanaging SaskPower, and when they can’t control spending or balance the books, they only have one place to turn…your household budget.”
Harrison says the decline in net income does but pressure on rates, but “we’re not doubling them, which is what the NDP plan would lead to.”
Sask. Power CEO Rupen Pandya attributes the loss to a lack of exports, which was a result of a broken inter-tie with Alberta that was expected to be fixed by May but is still being repaired. Over at SaskEnergy, $82 million in net income was generated, up from $55 million in 2023-24. SaskTel collected $82.2 million, down slightly from $95.4 million. SGI earned $43.2 million in net income in 2024-25, down from $78.1 million the year prior.
Also announced recently, the Sask. Party Government is planning to extend the life of the province’s coal plants beyond 2030, despite the Federal regulation that has proclaimed 2030 as the end of coal-fired power generation in Canada.
Harrison says this was a policy decision, not a political decision.
“This is about energy security and reliability. We have the fuel. We know where it is. We know what it will cost, because it costs the same as it did twenty years ago as it will in 20 years from now which is zero, because it is owned by the people of this province,” he assured.
Harrison adds that he views coal as a bridge to begin harnessing nuclear energy.
