The Chamber provided the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, with a pre-budget submission detailing Saskatchewan’s business interests in the lead up to the fall federal budget. We recommended that the federal government:

1. Explicitly include Northern Saskatchewan as an eligible priority region under the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund.
2. Recognize helium as a critical mineral in the Income Tax Act in a manner consistent with its inclusion on Canada’s Critical Minerals List and add helium to the list of minerals covered by the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (CMETC).
3. Raise the project size thresholds that trigger federal review for critical minerals projects and related infrastructure under the Physical Activities Regulations of the Impact Assessment Act, reserving federal review for projects with clear national, interprovincial, transboundary, or otherwise significant federal effects. Establish provincial review as the primary path for projects that fall within established provincial expertise.

The submission also emphasized the importance of improving access for small and medium-sized enterprises to federal procurement and defence-sector opportunities, addressing labour shortages and improving stability in federally regulated labour relations, and supporting strategic trade-enabling infrastructure.

Read the pre-budget submission here.