Scott Boulton

Tariffs are set to have a big impact on commodities, with the grain crops across Canada especially feeling the pinch.

With 25 per cent tariffs being put on both sides of the border following the US's original tariffs that came into effect at midnight, prices are expected to rise across the board.

Kyle Larkin, the Executive Director at Grain Growers Canada, says the tariffs will be devastating on both sides of the border.

With the province ringing in Fraud Prevention Month at the beginning of March, they're highlighting a type of investment fraud known as "pig butchering scams".

They report that in 2024, over $3.4 million was lost due to these scams.

The province defines a "pig butchering" scam as a type of long-term investment fraud where scammers build trust with the victims over time, often through social media or messaging apps. This can include befriending the victim, developing an online romance with them, or pretending to be a legitimate investment advisor.

Tariffs are set to have a big impact on commodities, with the grain crops across Canada especially feeling the pinch.

With 25 per cent tariffs being put on both sides of the border following the US's original tariffs that came into effect at midnight, prices are expected to rise across the board.

Kyle Larkin, the Executive Director at Grain Growers Canada, says the tariffs will be devastating on both sides of the border.

With the province ringing in Fraud Prevention Month at the beginning of March, they're highlighting a type of investment fraud known as "pig butchering scams".

They report that in 2024, over $3.4 million was lost due to these scams.

The province defines a "pig butchering" scam as a type of long-term investment fraud where scammers build trust with the victims over time, often through social media or messaging apps. This can include befriending the victim, developing an online romance with them, or pretending to be a legitimate investment advisor.

A southeast town is hoping to get support as they've entered into the Kraft Hockeyville competition.

Redvers is hoping to accrue enough votes to win the competition, which would see $250,000 go towards the Redvers Rec Centre.

Nadine Pryde, the recreation director for Redvers, says they're hoping to see some community feedback to help make it happen.

Southern Saskatchewan will have a new resource to help out families in need as the provincial government has announced $6.5 million in funding for a new Ronald McDonald House in Regina.  

Before this, the Ronald McDonald Houses were located in Saskatoon and Prince Albert, which as a facility specializes in giving spaces to families whose children are undergoing treatment in a city centre to keep them together.

More businesses and customers will be able to consider an option for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions as SaskPower is expanding its Renewable Subscription Service.

Previously offered only for large industrial clients, the program would now allow small and medium businesses, along with farms and residential customers, the ability to pay for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

A REC is an internationally recognized unit of measurement that represents the environmental attributes of 1 megawatt-hour of renewable energy. 

Humboldt's building permit numbers were up in 2024 according to the City, and that's contributing to the postive numbers the province is reporting based on data from Statistics Canada.

The latest numbers show that the value of the province's building permits increased by 59.4 per cent between December 2023 and December 2024, putting Saskatchewan in second place year-over-year among all the provinces.

These figures follow up on a report from last month which also placed the province in the same position.

The Canadian Cattle Association has been looking for ways to keep Canadian beef producers going strong even as the U.S. is threatening a 25 per cent blanket tariff on the country.

That work has included speaking with American representatives and charting a course through new trade realities.

Nathan Phinney, the President of the CCA, says that having the time to discuss the tariff is one small positive in the situation.

Saskatchewan is seeing new work in the development of vaccines as the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) has received a subsidy to develop a new vaccine.

Based out of the University of Saskatchewan, VIDO works on making and improving vaccines with one new project looking to create a pan-sarbecovirus vaccine.

Trina Racine, the director of vaccine development at VIDO, talks about the work they're doing with that grant.