Ten years ago who would have thought Saskatchewan would be the province it is today? But as we head into the new year - in spite of challenges - it's clear we are on the fast track to continued prosperity.
According to the stats, as of October 1, there were 1,114,170 people living in Saskatchewan - an increase of 5,867 in the previous three months and 19,797 over the past year. The quarterly and annual growth rates in Saskatchewan were both the second-highest among the provinces, behind only Alberta.
Saskatchewan and Alberta were also the only two provinces to see positive net migration from other provinces in the past quarter.
The west is where it's at.
Saskatchewan's net interprovincial migration of 637 people came primarily from British Columbia (271), New Brunswick (105), Alberta (91) and Quebec (70).
Add to that international migration of 3,510 and births of 1,720.
"We are now in our seventh year of strong population growth - the most sustained period of growth in Saskatchewan in quite some time," Premier Brad Wall points out adding, he expects to see continued population and economic growth in 2014 even though provincial resource revenues will be down.
"I expect 2014 to be a good year for our economy and our province even as we face some revenue challenges."
Let's hope he is right.
