SAS Institute Inc., a global data, AI and analytics software company, is lobbying Saskatchewan’s government to adopt more of its products.

In a Sept. 1 lobbying registration, SAS declared it was seeking meetings with officials “in an effort to expand the use of SAS products and services relating to data and analytics to drive transformation in the health-care system as well as modernizing how the government makes payments to suppliers and for social programs."

The company’s lobbying efforts are targeting the Ministry of Health and SaskBuilds and Procurement, according to the province’s lobbyist registry.

SAS said it hopes to achieve this expanded adoption through new contracts and amendments to its existing contracts with the Saskatchewan government.

Saskatchewan’s procurement database shows that the company holds more than $1 million in contracts related to eHealth Saskatchewan, which manages the provincial health IT system responsible for health cards, life event records, personal health information and numerous public health databases.

In 2024, eHealth awarded SAS a contract valued at more than $859,000 to upgrade its existing system. The health agency said in its public tender that SAS was the only supplier able to provide the service to support the SAS upgrade that met procurement requirements.

The Crown corporation also contracted SAS in January 2026 to provide training related to the SAS system, with services valued at $160,000.

SAS has hired GSD Strategies to handle its lobbying efforts. Jason Wall, one of the lobbyists named in the company’s registration, was the assistant deputy minister for SaskBuilds until May 2024, and held numerous other positions with the provincial government dating back to 2010.

Speaking at a Saskatoon Startup Week event in June, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said there were endless opportunities for AI integration in health care.

Cockrill said it was important to make sure there were safeguards in place around how patient information and health data were used and stored, such as ensuring data was stored in Canada and not an “unfriendly power around the world.”

SAS is a global company with head offices in North Carolina, but its Canadian subsidiary is based in Toronto.

The Saskatchewan government and SAS did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

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