Moose Jaw is a regional and provincial service centre for Saskatchewan’s thriving agribusiness community. Within a 100-mile radius of the city grow some of the best quality cereal and pulse crops in the world, creating business opportunities with global significance. The trend towards agricultural diversification and value added production has helped create a thriving and vibrant local economy.

The strength of the agribusiness is balanced with a diversified local economy with retail, tourism, and manufacturing – all helping to boosting the economy. The city boasts a NATO Flying Centre based at 15 Wing for military pilot training base, government services and an Applied Institute of Applied Science and Technology for employment training. With Moose Jaw equidistant from petroleum fields in Estevan and Swift Current, the city offers excellent logistics to exploration and service company locations.

Moose Jaw is strategically located to serve the North American market through its integrated transportation system: Trans-Canada Highway, with Moose Jaw mid-way between Calgary and Winnipeg, a major trucking route to ports serving international markets, including those to major U.S. markets. The city is also the CPR terminus of the Soo Line to Minneapolis and Chicago, and home to the largest main-line refueling facility on the CPR North American Network.
 
Moose Jaw is well-positioned for growth and poised for future development. The Moose Jaw-Regina Industrial Corridor, currently with several multi-national and international companies such as Mosaic, Yara Belle Plaine Inc., Canadian Salt Company Ltd., Terra Grain Fuels already operate in the corridor.

 Moose Jaw is a thriving, vibrant and progressive community with positive economic indicators with strong predications related to increases in employment, commercial development and tourism. 

Here are some of the City’s recent economic highlights:

• The population of the City of Moose Jaw in 2008 was 34,736 according to Saskatchewan Covered Health Statistics, an increase of 500 from 2007. Based on the last decade, these figures compare to a peak of 35,089 in 1999 and a low of 33,134 in 2007.
  
  
• According to Statistics Canada, the city had 1,079 employers in 2008 employing a workforce of 26,670. The participation rate was 66.5%, while the unemployment rate remained well below the national average of 5.4%.
  
  
• Moose Jaw has proven to be a very attractive and competitive place to live and do business. In 2008 Financial Post Markets Canadian Demographics estimates per capita income of $26,123 with an average household income of $61,291 (compared to a national average of $67,511).
  
  
• Canadian Demographics estimates 2008 retail sales in the city to be just over $600M, which was 38% higher than the national per capita average.
  
  
• According to the CFIB, 53% of Saskatchewan business owners reported that customer demand was up during the summer of 2008 compared to 31% nationally.
  
  
• The 2008 KPMG Competitive Alternatives Study ranked Moose Jaw #1 for cost competitiveness for the North American Midwest, 4th in Canada and 12th overall for twelve operations among the 136 cities studied from the ten countries included in the analysis.
  
  
• Between January and July 2009, 91 new businesses started up representing a 50% increase over the same period in the prior year. Although many were home based businesses, others (13) reported revenues over $50,000 and three reporting revenues over $500,000 annually.
  
  
• Moose Jaw, like other communities in Saskatchewan, has coped better in the economic downturn compared to other provinces. According to joint Financial Post-CFIB’s report released October 2009: Communities in Boom: Canada’s Top Entrepreneurial Cities – which is the result of an examination of 12 factors in three key areas that affect the likelihood for entrepreneurial success among cities with populations greater than 25,000. Five of the top 10 jurisdictions were located in Saskatchewan and Moose Jaw ranked near the top in fourth place behind Saskatoon (first place), Grande Prairie, Alberta and Joliette, Quebec. Regina ranked number 8 while Prince Albert took 10th place. The study identified top entrepreneurial cities as those with high concentrations of entrepreneurs and business owners with high levels of optimism. Good public policy was identified as critical to success and the study looked for the presence of supportive local government and regulatory policies.
  
  
• In the first 6 months of 2009 the value of building permits totaled $26,076,255, compared to $25,459,300 for the same period in the prior year, representing a 2.4% increase.
  
  
• Between January and July 31, 2009 345 houses had been sold, down slightly from the pace set in 2008 which recorded 620 sales. In the month of July the average selling price was $189,969, a 4.5% increase compared to July 2008 ($180,480). Note: The average house price for over the 2008 twelve month period was $130,258 with Moose Jaw one of the more affordable housing markets among prairie cities with a population above 25,000.
  
  
• Development of new rental housing is off sharply across the province. This is an on-going issue for people moving to Saskatchewan.  According Canada Mortgage and Housing - Rental Market Report the average vacancy rate for apartments is Saskatchewan’s urban centres increased from 1.2 per cent to 1.7 percent from April 2008 to 2009. Moose Jaw’s critically low April 2009 vacancy rate of 0.9 per cent is down from the 2.8 per cent recorded in April 2008. The average rent in April 2009 was $598, up from $522 as recorded in April 2008. Of the 1,214 rental units in Moose Jaw only 11 one and two bedroom units remained vacant in April 2009. (There were no vacancies recorded for bachelor or three bedroom plus units!)
  
  
• The City of Moose Jaw’s $61 million multiplex project consisting of a WHL standard ice facility and an eight sheet curling rink is under construction.  The indoor soccer facility, also under construction is located at the Hamilton Flats.
  
  
• Plans are proposed for an Upgrader to be located in the Moose Jaw Regina Industrial Corridor with the capability to upgrade 2,000 barrels of oil/day.

For more information contact: Deb Thorn
info@SouthCentralEnterprise.ca
Telephone: (306) 693-7335
Fax:     (306) 693-7338