Saskatchewan-Manitoba

The most compelling sports story in Winnipeg these days has nothing to do with what's happening on the field of play.

The receiver of a recently mothballed resort hotel in the Interlake region is confident it will be sold and reopened even after two recent breaks in the sprinkler system caused $500,000 in damages.

Regina, along with Saskatoon, has the lowest industrial vacancy rate in Canada at 1.24 per cent, according to Colliers International.

The villlage of Wescadia has only 225 residents but, like the neighbouring town of Virden, it finds itself at the centre of an unprecedented oil boom in southwestern Manitoba.

"There is virtually no downtown or suburban office space available for tenants who want to expand or locate their businesses in [Regina]," noted Avison Young principal Dale Griesser. At 1.

Premier Brad Wall left Regina March 8 for a trade mission to India and Bangladesh. With the help of the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP), Wall's primary mission is to increasing exports to these two countries.

Asia Pulp and Paper Co., through its European subsidiary, Paper Excellence, is buying Domtar Corp.

Saskatoon building permits rose 52.1 per cent between January 2010 and January 2011, spiking to $61.5 million from $40.4 million a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada.

"It would sure say we're a major league city. It would say we have the spending power and the economic base to support a sport at the very highest level that it's played at in the world.

Building permits Total building permits hit a record $51 million last year, and the city is awaiting a provincial/federal decision on a commercial-sized clean coal project at nearby Boundary Dam Power Station, owned and operated by SaskPower.