Saskatchewan-Manitoba

The City of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, land fund hit record numbers last year, posting $3.3 million in residential sales alone – and now the city is speculating on farmland.

Winnipeg’s industrial vacancy rate is unlikely to change much because of the amount of older properties that no longer fit the need of potential tenants.

The City of Saskatoon is cashing in as real estate demand and prices flirt with record highs. The city has a near lock on new serviced industrial land and appears to be taking full advantage. The city is expected to release another 36.

Sales of land parcels linked to oil and natural gas rights totaled $67.4 million in 2013 for the province of Saskatchewan. The December sale of petroleum and natural gas rights brought in $13.

Despite global volatility in the potash market, Agrium Inc. is still aiming to complete an expansion of its Saskatchewan mine next year.

The Port of Churchill, Canada's only Arctic seaport, is being eyed as a potential oil-export terminal. At a community meeting in Thompson this August, Denver-based OmniTrax Inc., which owns both the Hudson Bay Railway and Hudson Bay Port Co.

The Manitoba economy isn't doing as well as expected according to the latest provincial forecast from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). RBC Economics said it has lowered its 2013 economic growth forecast for Manitoba to 2.5 per cent from 2.7 per cent.

Despite a drop in the vacancy rate, Saskatoon is seeing a mounting inventory of complete and empty new industrial space, according to a report from ICR Commercial.

Portage La Prairie continues to offer the best industrial-land prices in Manitoba: free. But there have been no takers on the 15-year-old deal.

Manitoba has officially increased the minimum wage, as of October 1, to $10.45 an hour - an increase of 20 cents over the previous wage.