REGINA, Sask. — Saskatchewan posted year-over-year employment gains in October, but a closer look at provincial labour data reveals an uneven economic landscape marked by recent full-time job losses in several regions, a widening gender wage gap and declines in some industries.
According to October labour statistics released by Statistics Canada on Nov. 6, the number of employees in Saskatchewan grew by 13,500 between October 2025 and October 2026. This 2.5 per cent year-over-year increase pushed the provincial employee count to a 13-month high of 551,500. However, a closer look at the figures suggests that not all sectors and regions have shared equally in that growth.
The year-over-year growth was entirely driven by the goods-producing sector, which expanded by 15,400 employees to reach 119,300. The services-producing sector contracted slightly over the same period, shedding 1,900 employees to settle at 432,200. Construction led the way in proportional growth, climbing to 47,000 jobs in October, representing a nearly 23 per cent increase from the previous year.
Despite these positive annual figures, employment trends between August and October 2026 paint a different picture.
During that period, the province added 3,700 jobs overall, based on data unadjusted for seasonality. However, much of that increase reflected seasonal hiring in the educational services sector, which gained 13,300 jobs as schools reopened for the fall term. Excluding the increase in educational services, the rest of the Saskatchewan economy recorded a net decline of 9,600 employees during those two months.
Employment in the resource extraction sector also declined. The forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas sector climbed steadily through the first half of the year to a peak of 24,600 employees in August. Since then, the sector has lost 3,000 jobs. This 12.2 per cent decline left the industry at a 13-month low of 21,600 employees.
Manufacturing employment fell by 200 jobs during the same period, while wholesale and retail trade shed 2,000 employees.
Other sectors also recorded declines. Information, culture and recreation lost 3,600 jobs, public administration fell by 2,300 and the finance, insurance and real estate sector dropped by 1,800 employees.
Alongside the sectoral shifts, the October data shows a widening disparity in average weekly wages between men and women.
The provincial average weekly wage rose to $1,454 in October, but the increases were not distributed equally. Over the 13-month period ending in October 2026, men earned an average of $1,543 per week, compared to $1,315 for women.
That represents an average difference of $228 per week over the period.
Since August, average weekly wages for men rose by more than $54 to reach $1,568. Over the same period, average wages for women rose by just $17 to reach $1,308.
Consequently, the difference in average weekly wages reached a 13-month high of $260 in October. Women in Saskatchewan earned an average of 83.4 cents for every dollar earned by men, based on weekly wages.
The differences were particularly pronounced in certain occupations.
In natural resources and agricultural production occupations, the wage gap reached $636 per week in October.
The largest proportional difference appeared among labourers in processing, manufacturing and utilities. In this category, male labourers saw their average weekly wages rise to $1,525 in October, while female labourers saw their wages fall to $713. This represented a 53.3 per cent difference in average weekly wages.
Health occupations were an exception over much of the period, with women earning an average of $11 more per week than men over the previous year. However, an increase in wages for male health professionals since August reversed that difference, leaving men earning an average of $85 more per week by October.
Regionally, the transition into autumn was characterized by a shift from full-time to part-time employment in several areas, alongside declines in labour force participation.
The Regina-Moose Mountain economic region recorded the strongest improvement in its unemployment rate, which dropped to a 13-month low of five per cent in October.
However, between August and October, the region lost 1,900 full-time jobs. These losses were offset by 2,400 additional part-time positions, while the estimated regional labour force declined by 1,800 people.
The Saskatoon-Biggar region experienced a similar shift. While its unemployment rate fell from a summer peak of 6.7 per cent to six per cent in October, the estimated labour force declined by 4,100 people.
Total employment in the region fell by 2,100 jobs since August, including the loss of 2,400 full-time positions.
To the south, the Swift Current-Moose Jaw region recorded the largest year-over-year increase in unemployment, rising nearly two percentage points to reach 6.2 per cent.
The region lost 1,600 full-time jobs since August, with those losses only partially offset by an increase of 800 part-time positions.
Further east, the Yorkton-Melville region recorded a significant annual contraction. The region lost 3,000 jobs since October 2025, representing a seven per cent decline in total employment.
The regional participation rate fell five percentage points to 61.8 per cent, indicating a smaller proportion of the working-age population was participating in the labour force.
Prince Albert and Northern Saskatchewan was the only region to record overall employment growth between August and October.
While the region continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the province at 6.5 per cent, it added 1,100 jobs during that period, including 1,700 full-time positions.
