The day was created in 1975 and was proposed by then Minister of Labour Gordon Snyder. 

At the time, it was recognized by businesses but was not an official statutory holiday, which Snyder moved to change. 

Here are five fun facts as we celebrate our province from the book Strange Saskatchewan by Carson Demmans. 

  1. Many of us have flown in and out of the Regina airport, but did you know the first commercial airport in Canada was opened in Regina in 1928. 
  2. Saskatchewan is known for its beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders football team. The team began as the Regina Rugby Club before changing their name in 1924 to the Regina Roughriders and later the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The team nearly changed their name in 1915, but there was already a local lacrosse team with the name Roughriders. 
  3. Who has tripped over the gopher hole while living in Saskatchewan? A 1929 Roughriders playoff game was delayed when a referee tripped over a gopher hole and was knocked unconscious. 
  4. The first government pre-paid medical plan in Canada was in the Rural Municipality of McKillop in 1939. The plan wouldn’t go provincewide until 1946. 
  5. And finally, if you are heading out to the lake for the long weekend, you might be trying to reel in that big catch. The largest fish ever caught in Saskatchewan was a Lake Sturgeon weighing 260 pounds.