Innovative Saskatchewan companies get funding to help recruit skilled workers

PrairiesCan is putting money into the hands of Saskatchewan entrepreneurs to foster skilled labour in the province.

The interest-free loan of nearly $26,000,000 is being given to 11 “innovative businesses” across the province. The funding is meant to help companies expand and improve their operations as well as create job opportunities for skilled workers.

Dan Vandal, minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan), said the money was allocated in a previous budget.

Katherine Regnier, CEO of Coconut Software, was born and raised in Saskatchewan. She said the money will go a long way towards helping train and educate employees and help them be more competitive to keep their skilled workers in the province.

“We had such a secret gem here in Saskatchewan, but other companies are starting to pick up the great talent that we have,” Regnier said following the announcement Wednesday morning.

That’s forcing companies like Coconut to compete with much bigger technology firms across the country, and Regnier said the money from PrairiesCan will help her company offer more competitive salaries and help attract skilled staff.

Regnier said skilled workers are facing a choice.

“I can go work for a very well-known company that we all know here, or I can come work for you,” Regnier said.

She said it’s not just about the paycheck, though. Regnier said showcasing her company’s values and great career potential are also important selling points for potential workers.

By investing in local talent, Regnier said the province will see that growth and expansion continue across the industry.

“We’re going to see all those people that have learned, including myself, how to grow a tech company, and then they’re going to do it again,” she said.

When it comes to keeping great talent in the province, Regnier said it’s important to invest in education for staff. The question she posed was how to invest in people to develop their skills and then get them to bring those skills back to Saskatchewan.

“We definitely should be taking that knowledge and bringing it back so we can become a better and stronger place,” she said.

The announcement was made at the Biktrix warehouse in Saskatoon, where e-bikes are produced and sold.

Biktrix founder and CEO Roshan Thomas said hiring has been a challenge for his company, and they sometimes find it challenging to hire people with the skills they need here in Saskatchewan as they continue to build their tech portfolio.

“We hire slow but steady, and we’ve been hiring,” Thomas said.

He emphasized an approach to hiring that allows for growing skills in local workers as well as bringing talented employees to the province from elsewhere.

“With funding like this, we’re able to make competitive pay for people from other provinces to get them to move to Saskatoon and Saskatchewan,” Thomas said.

While attracting skilled workers is important, Thomas said one of their top developers was making sandwiches when they hired him. He didn’t have the education for the position at first, Thomas said, but they were able to supply him with that by pairing him up with a senior developer in their company.

Vandal said more investment and job creation is needed in technology, agrifood and other industries is needed, and it’s something he hopes to see happening through the interest-free loans the companies will receive.

“It’s opportunity,” Vandal said.