The Saskatchewan government ran a surplus last fiscal year, newly-released accounting has revealed.With the second-fastest growing economy in Canada in 2023, the province finished the 2023-24 fiscal year with a $182-million operating surplus. Saskatchewan’s financial status was highlighted in Thursday’s release of Volume 1 of the 2023-24 Public Accounts.Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer tabled a surplus budget in the spring of 2023, but a deficit had been projected in fiscal updates.“We experienced significant increases in revenue from the third quarter to year end across all sources except for federal transfers,” Harpauer said.“At the same time, there was also a substantial increase in expenses throughout the year. This investment is necessary to support our growing province and the things that matter the most to Saskatchewan citizens – classrooms, care and communities.”Total revenue of $20.99 billion was up by $1.32 billion, or 6.7% from the 2023-24 Budget. It included significant increases in taxation and other own-source revenue, driven by a growing population and economy.Included in the revenue changes were significant increases in corporate income tax from improved profitability in 2023 and continued prior-year adjustments from the strong resource-sector performance in 2022.Similar to revenue, total expense of $20.81 billion was up by $2.15 billion, or 11.5%, from budget. Agriculture saw the most notable increase, as continued drought conditions in some areas of the province resulted in higher crop insurance payouts, while health expense was higher due to increased demand for services. Non-cash adjustments related to inflation indexation of pensions also contributed to increased expense. Compared to the third-quarter update, total expense was down $55 million while revenue increased $610 million.Saskatchewan has the second lowest net-debt to GDP ratio in Canada and continues to have the second highest credit rating in Canada when ratings from the three key rating agencies — Moody’s Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Morningstar DBRS — are combined.The year-end surplus is an improvement of $664.7 million from the $482.5 million deficit that was forecasted in the third-quarter update.“Our budget forecasting follows best practices from the public and private sectors, but challenging situations around the world and issues closer to home, such as weather events, led to some extraordinary fluctuations over the course of 2023-24,” Harpauer said. “Fortunately we were able to finish the year in a surplus position due to the strength of our economy, which continues to see increased growth across a wide range of sectors.”The 2023-24 Public Accounts Volume 1 provides a complete and accurate view of the Government of Saskatchewan’s finances and is available at https://publications.saskatchewan.ca.
