Latest news with #WarrenKaeding
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘A powerhouse': Innovation Saskatchewan unveils new research strategy
Innovation Saskatchewan is charting a new path towards economic prosperity in Saskatchewan. 'We're going to show that great ideas grow here in Saskatchewan and will for decades to come,' Warren Kaeding, the minister responsible for Innovation Saskatchewan, said Thursday. The crown corporation tasked with fueling innovators and supporting Saskatchewan's tech sector and research community released a new research strategy and brand update it hopes will position the province as a global leader in research and innovation for years to come. The plan focuses on four key sectors and three pillars to make it happen. Life sciences, mining and critical minerals, energy and agriculture are the stated priorities as the strategy looks to invent, commercialize and connect to see Saskatchewan be home to the next scientific or technological breakthrough. Parts of the strategy will also bring improvements to two crucial tools prospective researchers and startups will look to access. The Innovation Science Fund will get an annual increase of $2.4 million, which nearly doubles its funding to $5.2 million. The Saskatchewan Technology Startup Incentive (STSI), a highly competitive tech-targeted tax credit which provides a non-refundable 45 per cent tax credit, will now include life sciences startups. Steven Siciliano is the CEO and co-founder of homegrown startup LiORA, which manufactures 'AI-driven' soil and groundwater sensor to monitor and manage soil conditions. He says anything to improve conditions for startups, who often face a bleak outlook, is critical. 'As a startup founder, I want more [venture capitalists] competing to invest in our company,' he said. 'Ninety-five per cent of startups won't make their next funding, typically.' Siciliano says not only creating an environment where venture capitalists want to invest is crucial, but also getting Innovation Saskatchewan leading a strategy to be a point of contact for startups looking to navigate the business model will help the next potential LiORA from failing. 'Startups exist in a unique business space where they invest in hard problems... and that requires an enormous amount of capital before cashflow comes in,' he said. 'It is absolutely essential.' Siciliano says the typical startup founder isn't what you're picturing, and without the necessary systems in place, they might not realize their dream. 'Those accelerators and incubators allow people of all ages to dream because the best founders are not a17-year-old whiz kid. What they are is they're in their 40s to 50s,' he said. Another part of Thursday's announcement was bringing all facets of Innovation Saskatchewan under one line of branding. Innovation Saskatchewan is no more. Its name has been replaced with Innovation Saskatchewan Research and Technology Park Saskatoon and Innovation Saskatchewan Research and Technology Park Regina. 'This change and this new brand really provides that cohesiveness that we can now take out and provide a really strong signal to the world that we are an innovation powerhouse,' CEO Kari Harvey said. Kaeding wasn't shy about what these organizational changes could mean for the economy of Saskatchewan, and the ideas that could benefit the world. 'It is my belief that Saskatchewan's research strategy will help cultivate these ideas so they become the next lifesaving vaccine, the next sustainable energy solution, or the next climate resistant problem that is going to transform our province and make the world that much better,' Kaeding said.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Up to 57 bursaries to be given to young entrepreneurs in Saskatchewan
Minister of Trade and Export Development Warren Kaeding and Chamber of Commerce CEO Prabha Ramaswamy launch newly developed Saskatchewan Young Entrepreneur Bursary. (Gareth Dillistone / CTV News)
CBC
12-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Sask. farmers hope for rain, relief from tariffs as seeding continues
With seeding well underway, Saskatchewan farmers are now looking at soil moisture levels and tariffs to see what this year will hold. "The wind is sucking the moisture out of the ground at an exceptional rate. Things are drying up very, very quickly," said Jeremy Welter, who farms northeast of Kerrobert and is a vice-president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS). According to the province's most recent crop report, about 18 per cent of the crop has been planted. That same report said topsoil moisture levels are adequate in much of the province, but noted producers in the southwest may not have enough spring runoff to replenish dugouts. "The moisture situation is changing rapidly. I think it is very much a question of where you go," Welter said. The progress in spring seeding prompted the province to release a statement reminding people to slow down and give farmers space when they are moving equipment on the roads. Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison said soil moisture levels are currently good in much of the province, but that rain is needed soon to help get crops growing. Trade and Export Development Minister Warren Kaeding said farmers are also looking to see China's tariff on Canadian canola products lifted, but that it's not farmers' top concern. "The weather is the primary concern for producers. For about 140 days the weather will be their primary concern, because if they don't have something in the bin they don't have something to market." China imposed a 100 per cent retaliatory tariff on Canadian canola oil and meal in March. Both Kaeding and Harrison said they expect Ottawa will start working to get the tariff on canola products lifted after a new cabinet is announced this week.
CBS News
11-02-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Canadian trade ministers visit Minnesota business leaders amid Trump tariff threats
MINNEAPOLIS — Late Monday night, President Trump announced 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea will all be affected. The tariffs will start March 12 with no exceptions or exemptions. Those tariffs might only be the start, too. Tuesday in Minneapolis, Canadian ministers met with local business leaders to discuss issues related to the now-delayed 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico. Feb. 1 was supposed to be the day when the U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports, except for energy, which would've been 10%. Delaying those tariffs by a month though hasn't alleviated any of the worries about what this could mean for Minnesota and its biggest trading partner. Minnesota's businesses and consumers buy a lot from Canada, both finished and raw materials. Just how much? About $14 billion — and almost two-thirds of that is energy from crude oil, natural gas and electricity. After that, we're talking all kinds of agriculture like grains and heavy machinery for farming equipment. Trade ministers and Minnesota business leaders had a shared message Tuesday at the Consulate General of Canada's office in Minneapolis: We need you. "Even though tariffs are initiated by the U.S. administration, unfortunately there's probably going to be a retaliatory tariff that's provided by the Canadian government," said Warren Kaeding, Saskatchewan's minister of trade and export development. "And so that's just going to affect more goods that are flowing back and forth across the border. And so that also needs to, that story needs to be told as well." The tariff threat, though, is instilling enough fear that it has forced both sides to the negotiating table with the hope of bringing some positive change, especially on the border.
