The prospects for local business are good, but there are challenges too.
That was the dual messages Yorkton Mayor Aaron Kienle offered those attending the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce AGM as the events keynote speaker.
Kienle began by hitting on some long-held precepts regarding the city.
“Certainly, Yorkton is a regional hub. It’s safe to say a 150-km radius is our Yorkton area,” he said.
A core draw to the hub is agriculture, and the processing which takes place locally, added Kienle, suggesting “it really is kind of a foundation of business.”
Helping attract such core processing businesses is the connectivity available in Yorkton via multiple highway access and two rail lines, continued Kienle.
The new terminal at the airport was also noted as a key access point.
“The city is always a champion of the airport… It’s something we’re incredibly proud of,” said Kienle, noting there were 13,533 aircraft movements at the facility in 2025.
To build on existing history and strengths, Kienle said the city is focused on being ready should new opportunities arise.
“I can tell you the land is there,” to handle new business start-ups, he said.
The city is also at work on a longer-term project to add redundancy to water services, while readying to handle expected growth along Grain Millers Road in the years ahead, said Kienle.
“It’s really for the future when big business comes knocking,” he said.
In terms of challenges, and work to be done the much-needed new hospital and equally much-needed new wastewater treatment facilities topped the list.
On the hospital front Kienle said it was a positive the province continues to fund planning for the facility.
In response to that the city has also partnered with SHA and the Health Foundation to create what is essentially the access point for information regarding what stage the hospital project is at, what needs to be done locally, “how we work collaboratively to make it happen.”
Kienle then noted a new wastewater treatment plant is also a co-need in terms of properly servicing a new hospital.
The plant, currently in the planning stage thanks to a near $10 million local investment, is expected to have a price tag in excess of $200 million. Kienle said with a plan expected in place by year’s end, the project will be “shovel ready” for 2027, pending dollars from provincial and federal government sources. He added he expects dollars to start flowing to the project “later in the spring.”
Kienle said the city’s downtown also needs some revitalization.
“It’s time for a little bit of a new plan. We want to get back to where Yorkton’s downtown is full… vibrant,” Kienle said, adding a consultant has been hired and their report is expected later this spring.
Dovetailing with the revitalization idea are existing city programs such as incentives for new facades and site improvements.
For 2026 “there’s been some slight tweaks but they’re essentially the same,” said Kienle.
