Saskatchewan has given a boost to its tech sector through its first-ever research strategy meant to bolster research commercialization and give tax breaks to more startup investors.
The provincial government-backed agency Innovation Saskatchewan announced an expansion to a key tax incentive for startups in the province as well as a funding increase for the Innovation and Science Fund (ISF).
Innovation minister Warren Kaeding said the new research strategy will “[accelerate] Saskatchewan’s ambitious growth plan target to triple the technology sector by 2030.”
In a statement, Saskatchewan innovation minister Warren Kaeding said the new research strategy will “[accelerate] Saskatchewan’s ambitious growth plan target to triple the technology sector by 2030.”
Innovation Saskatchewan is expanding eligibility to life sciences startups for investors to access the Saskatchewan Technology Startup Incentive (STSI), a 45-percent non-refundable tax credit for Saskatchewan-based investors backing local startups. The agency claims STSI has helped spur over $108 million in private investment since its introduction in 2018.
Kari Harvey, CEO of Innovation Saskatchewan, told BetaKit that expanding STSI was a way to attract healthtech startups, which are more capital-intensive and highly regulated, to set up shop in the province.
In April 2024, the Government of Saskatchewan doubled the annual cap for STSI from $3.5 million to $7 million and expanded it to include cleantech startups as eligible businesses.
Saskatchewan already offers a refundable research & development tax credit for companies that covers 10 percent of the first $1 million of qualifying expenses. It also provides a refundable six-percent tax credit specific to purchases of manufacturing and processing equipment.
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The ISF matches funding opportunities for research institutions and has invested in a number of projects uniting the academic and private sectors. The fund is receiving a $2.4-million annual increase, nearly doubling its total funding to $5.2 million. It’s also expanding eligibility to four streams of applications: research infrastructure, research projects, international collaboration, and commercialization programs.
The new strategy also includes a refresh of Innovation Saskatchewan’s “research and technology parks,” located in Regina and Saskatoon, which include 1.3 million square feet of office and lab space. These hubs will be renamed Innovation Saskatchewan Parks after their previous owner, the Saskatchewan Opportunities Corporation (SOCO), was absorbed by Innovation Saskatchewan in 2022.
Harvey said that access to capital for early-stage and scaling companies in Saskatchewan still presents a hurdle. Venture capital (VC) firms invested a total of $11 million into Saskatchewan startups in Q1 2025, according to a report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). This already represents a third of the total amount raised in the province in 2024, but the sector still has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. VC firm Conexus Venture Capital is actively deploying its $30-million target Fund II, which held its first close last May and focuses on early-stage startups.
Saskatchewan companies that have secured seed financing this year include parking software startup Offstreet and railway technology startup Rayhawk.
Harvey added that securing talent is an ongoing challenge for the ecosystem, though the province’s tech sector employment is on the rise. An Innovation Saskatchewan report found that tech sector employment in the province doubled over a four-year period to reach roughly 5,500 workers in 2023. The tech sector accounted for 10 percent of all new jobs created in the province between 2016 and 2023, the report found.
Feature image courtesy Innovation Saskatchewan via LinkedIn.
Update (05/29/25): This story has been updated with commentary from Innovation Saskatchewan CEO Kari Harvey.