The Economist called Saskatchewan a 'remote' province and the reaction is mixed

The province of Saskatchewan is seen in this map of Canada.

British publication The Economist referred to Saskatchewan as a “remote Canadian province” in a recent article, but social media users were split on whether or not that was an apt description.

The newspaper published a story on Monday focusing on Saskatchewan benefitting from the increasing price of resources such as potash, lentils and wheat, with the headline “A remote Canadian province luxuriates in the global supply crunch.”

The article describes the province as “Canada’s heartland, full of cheerful, guileless folk who are just a generation or two off the farm if not still on it.”

The piece launched discussions about what makes a place remote, including land size, population and proximity to major centres.

Dictionary.com defines remote as “far apart; far distant in space; situated at some distance away” and “out-of-the-way; secluded.”

In the 2021 census, Saskatchewan’s population was 1,132,505, which places it sixth largest among Canadian provinces.

It had a population density of 2.0 per square kilometre, which puts it second last among the provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest at 1.4.

Despite outrage from some, others defended the publication’s wording.