Last year’s Canadian Western Agribition created lots of positive economic activity for the province.
Agribition shared stats from an economic impact study conducted by Praxis Consulting. It showed the 2023 event generated $116.5 million of economic activity in Saskatchewan, including $69.6 million to the provincial GDP. The total economic activity represents a nearly 21 per cent increase from the 2022 show. It also made $19.6 million in government revenue between the federal, provincial, and municipal levels.
CEO of Canadian Western Agribition Shaun Kindopp was surprised to see the numbers as high as they were. “Tourism took a large hit and the event took a large hit in the (COVID-19) pandemic so for us to have such a huge bounce back the last two years and to be able to contribute this to the economy, while still delivering such a fantastic event, it’s something that we don’t take lightly and we’re very proud of.” said Kindopp.
Lots of business was done at last year’s event – trade show vendor sales were $1.9 million, trade show booth sales were nearly one million dollars, and livestock sales reached $2.2 million. Kindopp says they’re proud to be the event to do business in.
The show also created 1081 jobs in the province, including 212 in Regina. Agribition itself has less than 15 year-round staff, 116 part-time and contract workers. The Praxis report also notes one in every 650 jobs in the Regina area depends on the event directly or indirectly.
“It takes a lot of people to be able to put on this event, whether its at REAL, the amount of volunteers we have or the contractors we have or the hotels and hospitality industry, there’s a lot of jobs that are supported by this event. Again, we don’t take any of that for granted and we’re very proud to be able to play that role in the community.” he said.
The show in 2023 saw an increase in attendance, totalling 142-thousand 800, with tourists spending around $83.2 million during the six days. Kindopp believes people wanting something to do coming out of the pandemic, Agribition’s year-round marketing, and the weather all contributed to the increase in attendees.
Agribition is set for November 25-30, 2024 and Kindopp says they’re going to focus on stability this year after introducing a number of new things at last year’s show.