With a second wave of COVID-19 hitting the country, a report from Scotiabank shows Saskatchewan is handling several economic areas quite well with a lot of credit going to the fact the province has done a good job in containing the virus.

The Scotiabank Provincial Outlook shows that while the province is getting hurt by the continued downturn in the energy sector, there are several areas that put Saskatchewan in a very favourable position with one of them being the traditionally strong agriculture sector.

“Crop production exports are up over 30 percent year-over-year, year-to date which has helped mitigate some of the downside in the oil and gas sector. ” Scotiabank’s Marc Desormeaux who wrote the report said. “We have also seen a strong pickup in farm cash receipts or incomes earned by farmers in the first half of the year thanks to things like lentil.  When you add the firm pricing of canola and soybeans, it is a big benefit to producers.”

While there are many positives, Desormeaux says the fact Saskatchewan has done a good job in dealing with COVID-19 and has a strong fiscal position are two of the main reasons for the positive economic outlook.

“A second wave has meant increased cases which has translated to new restrictions, a second shutdown in some businesses which can weigh on the economic outlook. “Desormeaux said. “Those provinces that have done a good job in handling the COVID numbers and limiting the spread have seen less deterioration in the various economic indicators.  For Saskatchewan to maintain a relatively light caseload it may be in a position to perform better as the recovery progresses and we start to enter 2021.”