speaker
Victor
Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the ISC fourth quarter and year-end 2025 earnings conference call and webcast. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, we'll open up for questions. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded I would like to hand it over to our first speaker, Jonathan Hackshaw, Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Thank you, Victor, and good morning to everyone joining us today. Welcome to ISE's conference call for the three months and year-ended December 31st, 2025. On the call today with me are Sean Peters, President and CEO, and Bob Antichow, Chief Financial Officer. This morning, Sean will take you through some of the highlights for the year. Bob will then provide some comments on a financial and operating performance before passing the call back over to Sean for some closing remarks. Before we begin, we would like to remind everyone that we will only be summarizing results today. The company's financial statements and MD&A have been filed on CDOT Plus and are available on our website. We encourage you to review those reports in their entirety. I would also like to remind you that any statements made today that are not historical facts are considered the before looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The statements may involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are described in detail in the company's CDOT Plus filings. Those risks and uncertainties may cause actual results for different material from those stated. Today's comments are made as of today's date and will not be updated except as required under applicable securities laws. Today's conference call is being broadcast live over the internet and will be archived for replay shortly after the call in the events section of our investor website at investors.ifc.ca. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Sean. Thank you, Jonathan. Good morning to everyone for joining us for today's call. Before I get into the details, I want to take a moment to reflect on what was truly a landmark year for ISC. 2025 marked our strongest year on record, a testament to the dedication of our team, strength of our diversified business model, and the trust our customers place in us every day. We delivered record revenue of $257.8 million, record adjusted EBITDA of $103.1 million, and record adjusted free cash flow of $74.7 million. We also achieved our long-term net leverage target of two to two and a half times well ahead of schedule, a milestone we had originally anticipated reaching by mid-2026. And all these results speak to the disciplined execution of our strategy and the resilience of our business. If we now turn to our operating segments, registry operations delivered exceptional performance throughout 2025, with revenue growing 10% year over year to reach $137.7 million and adjusted EBITDA increasing 12% to $89.5 million. The Saskatchewan Land Registry was the standout performer. We benefited from a resilient Saskatchewan economy characterized by higher average home prices, constrained residential inventory, and a declining interest rate environment. These conditions drove increased transaction volumes and, importantly, strong high-value property registrations. strong indicator of confidence in the province's commercial and agricultural sectors. Land registry reached a record $89.9 million in revenue, up 9% from the prior year. What's particularly encouraging is the breadth of this growth. Regular land transfers were up 2%, mortgage registrations climbed 16%, and title searches grew 2%. According to the Saskatchewan Realtors Association, 2025 was the second highest sales year on record for the province's housing market. A personal property and corporate registry also achieved record revenues of $13.5 and $14.1 million respectively, up 5% and 7% year over year. These results reflect the underlying strength of the provincial economy and the essential nature of the services we provide. In Ontario, our Property Tax Assessment Services Division grew revenue by 6% to $16.7 billion, benefiting from supplementary professional services requested by the Government of Ontario. And importantly, we completed our first full year of operating the Bank Act Security Registry following its launch in 2024. This contributed $3.5 million to revenue in our other registries division compared to just six months of contribution in the prior year. Turning to services, I'm proud of how this segment navigated what was admittedly a challenging year. Revenue was essentially flat at 109.2 million, but the story here is one of successful diversification and margin expansion. Adjusted EBITDA grew 19% to 27.2 million, and our margin improved to 25% from 21% in the prior year. The segment faced headwinds from the Ontario Notice of Security Interest, or NOSI, ban that took effect in June 2024, as well as the continued opening of the Ontario Business Registry and broader economic uncertainty in that market. However, our long-term diversification strategy proved its worth. Our Recovery Solutions Division delivered outstanding results, with revenue growing 17% to $17.3 million. This counter-cyclical business benefited from increased delinquencies in the automotive lending market, demonstrating the value of having offerings that perform well across different economic environments. Equally important, our regulatory solutions division showed strength in its higher margin KYC and due diligence offerings. Increased recurring and non-recurring volumes in these areas helped offset declines in our collateral management services, which were impacted by the NOSI ban. The takeaway here is clear. Our services segment has built a diversified portfolio that can absorb regulatory and economic shocks while still delivering strong bottom-line results. Finally, technology solutions delivered meaningful progress in 2025, with revenue growing 10% to $33.2 million and adjusted EBITDA reaching $3.2 million, a significant improvement from $0.3 million in the prior year. Our third-party business advanced on several fronts, We made progress on existing solution definition and implementation contracts. And importantly, in the fourth quarter, we began development work on a new digital record system for Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. This nine-year contract with a two-year build phase followed by a seven-year operating term represents an exciting expansion of our relationship with the Government of Ontario. Our related party revenue also grew. driven by continued delivery of registry enhancements for the Saskatchewan Registry Division. This internal work is critical to maintaining our registry technology leadership and delivering an exceptional customer experience. Our accomplishments in 2025 extended beyond our financial results. They also reflected our commitment to our people. Earlier this year, we were honored to be recognized by the Globe and Mail's Women Lead Here benchmark for executive gender diversity. We also maintained our standing as one of Saskatchewan's top employers. And in the fall, we achieved a new milestone, Great Place to Work certification. This was our first enterprise-wide certification, encompassing not just our Canadian operations, but also our subsidiary in Ireland. And it reinforces ISC's reputation as a people-first organization and a global market leader. I've said it many times, people matter at ISC. These recognitions are a powerful validation of that commitment. To further strengthen our partnership with our team, we introduced an employee share purchase plan this year. This allows our employees to purchase ISP shares on the TSX and participate directly in the company's future success. Initiatives like this are central to our ongoing strategy to attract and retain the talented individuals who make our achievements possible. Because at the end of the day, our people are what differentiate us. and they're what will drive our continued success going forward. I'll now turn the call over to Bob to discuss some financial highlights in more detail before providing some closing remarks. Thank you, Sean, and good morning, everyone. As Sean mentioned, 2025 was another year of strong performance, with results for adjusted EBITDA exceeding our expectations. The positive performance for the year was driven by a number of factors, which I will now highlight for you. Revenue was $257.8 million for the year end at December 31st, 2025, an increase of 4% compared to $247.4 million in the prior year. This growth was led by strong results across the Saskatchewan Registry's Division of Registry Operations, and in particular, the Land Registry, which benefited from higher average real estate values. Net income was $26.8 million, or $1.44 per basic share and $1.43 per diluted share for the year ended December 31st, 2025, compared to $20.2 million or $1.11 per basic share and diluted share in 2024. The increase is due to adjusted EBITDA contributions from registry operations and services during the year. Registry operations adjusted EBITDA is a result of strong revenue for the reasons previously discussed. Services adjusted EBITDA contribution is a result of the continued performance of the Higher Margin Recovery Solutions Division in addition to increased recurring and non-recurring volumes in the Higher Margin KYC due diligence offerings of the Regulatory Solutions Division. Lower net finance expense due to lower interest rates also contributed to the increase, but was partially offset by higher share-based compensation expense. due to an increase in the company's share price during the year and an increase in professional and consulting services expenses related to resources deployed to respond to Plantro's mini-tender. Net cash flow provided by operating activities was $77.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, an increase of $6.4 million compared to the same prior year. driven by the same factors described for net income, along with the timing of changes in non-cash working capital. Adjusted net income was $56.8 million, or $3.05 per basic share and $3.04 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2025. compared to $42.9 million or $2.36 per basic share and $2.35 per diluted share for the same prior year. The growth reflects strong results from registry operations and services in addition to lower interest expenses on long-term debt and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA was $103.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. compared to $90.3 million in the same prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the year was 40%, which increased compared to 37% in the prior year as a result of the strong performance across the operating segments. Registry operations continued to showcase growth in adjusted EBITDA due to strong results in the Land Registry and the Saskatchewan Registries Division. Services adjusted EBITDA growth was driven by ongoing margin improvement as a result of the continued strength in the recovery and regulatory solutions divisions and a shift towards a higher margin sales mix. Technology solutions growth was due to higher revenue as a result of progress on solution definition and implementation contracts, combined with lower wages and salaries, and information technology services as a result of increased capitalization and one-time grant funding. Adjusted pre-cash flow for the year ended December 31, 2025, with $74.7 million. an increase of $18.3 million compared to $56.4 million in the prior year. This growth was driven by an increase in adjusted EBITDA as previously described, in addition to lower interest paid on debt. Now turning to expenses. Total expenses were $204.1 million, an increase of $7.6 million compared to the prior year. This was due to an increase in wages and salaries and professional and consulting services expenses being offset by decreases in cost of goods sold and depreciation and amortization. Sustaining capital expenditures were $9.6 million compared to $8.3 million in 2024. Increase primarily resulted from increased system development work across our business segments. including registry enhancements in the Saskatchewan Red Streets Division of Registry Operations. After all this, as at December 31st, 2025, we held $19.5 million in cash compared to $21 million as at December 31st, 2024. During the year, as part of the execution of our deleveraging plan, we made voluntary prepayments of $47 million to our credit facility, which contributed to the company succeeding in achieving its stated long-term net leverage target of 2 to 2.5 times ahead of the previously expected timeframe of mid-2026. Before I turn the call back over to Sean, I'd like to finish by firstly highlighting that we also announced yesterday that our board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of 23 cents per share. That dividend will be payable on or before April 15th, 2026 to shareholders of record as of March 31st, 2026. Secondly, I want to remind you of the targets we've set for ourselves in 2026. with an expectation that revenue will be within a range of $273 million to $283 million, and adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in a range of $100 million to $107 million. In line with our historic performance, the company also expects robust free cash flow in 2026, which will help to maintain our long-term leverage target of 2 to 2.5 times. I will now turn the call back over to Sean for some concluding remarks. Thanks, Bob. As I mentioned at the start of the call, 2025 was a fantastic year for ISEE. We didn't just hit our targets. We set new records in revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. 2025 clearly demonstrated the power of ISEE's diversified model. Each segment contributed to our record results. We made meaningful progress on our strategic priorities. As Bob just highlighted, the momentum is carrying us into 2026. With the outlook and guidance we announced in early February, we're well positioned to deliver another year of growth while maintaining our disciplined approach to capital allocation. We expect continued strength in registry operations driven by Saskatchewan's resilient economy, organic growth and services through new customer onboarding, and further progress in technology solutions as we advance our third-party contracts. Finally, turning to our strategic review, strategic review of this complexity, balancing the interests of shareholders, the government of Saskatchewan, employees, and customers requires thorough analysis. As we noted in our earnings release yesterday, the special committee, supported by its independent advisors, is continuing its work, and its timely completion is a priority for both the committee and the board. but we're also committed to getting this right, and the time we're investing reflects the seriousness with which we're treating this process. We recognize that potential outcomes could lead to a significant strategic change for the company, and our priority is ensuring that any outcome maximizes value while protecting the interests of all stakeholders. Whatever the path forward, one thing will not change, a laboring commitment to our customers, our people, and our broader community. IC's business model is inherently resilient, It's built on diversified segments, disciplined financial management, and a track record of over 50 consecutive quarters of profitability. In closing, I want to thank all of our stakeholders for their support and patience as we navigate this pivotal moment in ISE's history. We're dedicated to finding the best possible outcome for everyone involved. With that, I'll now hand the call back over to Jonathan. Thanks, Sean. Victor, we'd now like to begin the question and answer session, please.

speaker
Victor
Operator

Thank you. To ask a question, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. One moment for our first question. Our first question will come from the line of Steven Bowen from Raymond James. Your line is open.

speaker
Steven Bowen
Analyst, Raymond James

Good morning, everyone. Sean, I know you can't talk about the strategic review, but there was new language put in the outlook around the provincial interest. I'm just wondering about the decision to add that now, because you've already provided a couple of updates on the review and the process without that language in there. So I'm just wondering why now.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Yeah, thanks for the question, Steve. No particular reason. The government of Saskatchewan has publicly announced its support for IFC strategic review. And in their announcement, they talked about the protection for Saskatchewan jobs and the golden share. So really no particular reason other than the government has announced it publicly.

speaker
Steven Bowen
Analyst, Raymond James

Okay, thanks. And just in terms of your other registry customers, whether they're Canadian or international, Is there any change of control provisions in those contracts?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Yeah, Steve, that's probably not a question that I'd want to get into on this call. I would say that any of those considerations will be considered in a strategic review and any outcome that comes from that.

speaker
Steven Bowen
Analyst, Raymond James

Okay. And last one for me is just in terms of this new contract that got announced, Maybe you could give a little description of the process and try to look into it, the one that's the International Equipment Registry. How long was the RFP, you know, costs to build, implement, you know, going live time, et cetera?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Yeah, so thanks for that. give you a couple of things on that so that's the just to for everyone that's the mac registries the mining agricultural and construction registry we're very pleased to announce that we've been selected as uh the the winner in that process so to your time question it was a quite a quite an elongated process taking a couple of years sort of start to finish We were successful in securing that as well as being the registrar for the company. So it's a great contract being that we're establishing, building and then operating that contract internationally, which shows that ISE is on the international stage for registries and opportunities like this are continuing to open up for us as we've seen in the recent announcements. So yeah, something we're really excited about. Just to finish off the answer to your question on build and that sort of thing, this will take advantage of the rolling stock registry that we previously announced and built, and it's operational now. It's similar in nature to that. And so from a build and getting up to speed timeframe, we're well advanced in that because we already have the rail registry.

speaker
Steven Bowen
Analyst, Raymond James

And can you... Any financials involved in this, like a cost to build, the annual revenue expectation, anything like that?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Yeah, from a cost to build, it'll just be reflected in our normal operating and CapEx assumptions, so you won't see anything significant there, and particularly, as I said, because we've already built the rail registry. From a revenue perspective, that's something that we don't have any guidance on at this point. The nice thing about this, as I said, is we are building and establishing this registry right from the ground, and that's where we like to be is right at the ground level for these because we think there's lots of potential in them, but at this point, can't quantify that financially.

speaker
Steven Bowen
Analyst, Raymond James

Okay. I appreciate that. Thanks very much. Thanks, Steve.

speaker
Victor
Operator

One moment for our next question. Next question will come from the line of Nicholas Boychuk from ATB Promart Capital Markets. Your line is open.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Thanks. Good morning, gentlemen. On the services business, I'm curious, the outlook commentary that you shared for 2026 and where you think things are going, the onboarding environment for new customers, are you able to share a little bit of how that looks right now, how competitive the space is and what you're seeing there? Yeah, I can start them and let Bob jump in. So it is clearly that is a competitive space. You know, we've been very successful in all aspects of our services business, right from onboarding new customers in the regulatory space, as well as the recovery solution space. And it's because of the service levels that we provide. So highly competitive. but we excel and outperform our competitors in the service levels that we provide. There's also some disruption in the market, just to be honest, currently with some of the other providers, and so we're well-positioned to take advantage of that. So really it's a combination of uncertainty, perhaps, with some of the other providers in the market that we're able to capitalize on, and then plus supported by our strong service levels.

speaker
Steven Bowen
Analyst, Raymond James

Does that answer your question, Nick?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Oops, sorry, I was on mute there. It does, but I'm curious. Do you have all the internal capabilities that you would want in order to address that opportunity, or are there things that you're working on from an R&D perspective to build out or that you would want to otherwise acquire? You do have the financial resources now. You mentioned the debt load coming under target faster than expected. Would either of those avenues be something you're going to explore? Yeah, two things that we're doing right now, and we talked about this earlier in the year, we have invested in the sales team in our services division. That's one of the areas where we saw opportunity. And so we've spent some time building that team. We're continuing to build that team so that we can take advantage of the market opportunity that's in front of us. But the second part is, as you said, the R&D. We're continually investing in our registry complete and our recovery complete platforms to make sure that the breadth of offerings there is what our clients are asking for. So absolutely, there's some R&D. Is there other things that we would buy? We have a pretty complete offering right now in that line of business. That's not to say there aren't areas that we'd be interested in, but right now our focus is really on expanding the product offering we have and using our sales team to go after that market. Okay, I understand that makes sense. And lastly, on the tech solutions, the Outlook commentator also mentioned that you've got a few opportunities in new contracts. I'm just curious, how robust is that pipe and what do you expect in terms of other announcements on the tech solutions side? Yeah, I would say that we've been excited about the ones that we've announced, both the MAC Registry, the NACP, and our ongoing contracts in places like Liechtenstein. That's a long sales cycle. We've talked about that before. We just talked about the MAC Registry being a couple of years in there, and NACP was something similar, 12 to 18 months. So we're continually working on that, and we think that pipeline remains strong for us. And the more of these opportunities that we're getting and that we're announcing, it's putting our name in places that it wasn't before, and that's exciting for us. So we think it's a robust pipeline. We'll continue to manage that and make sure that we're able to deliver because that's the key part of that. Winning them is one thing, but delivering on them is another thing. So we want to make sure that we're appropriately staffed to do that as well. Okay. Thanks, Sean.

speaker
Victor
Operator

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Erin Kyle from CIBC. The line is open.

speaker
Erin Kyle
Analyst, CIBC

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. So I was hoping you could discuss maybe more broadly the competitive landscape across the three services divisions and maybe how you view the defensibility of the service businesses, particularly in light of any potential AI-driven disruption that the market's kind of focused on in this environment.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Yeah, so again, Miguel started and Bob jumped in. It's the same thing. So the first part of your question, I think, was a competitive environment across the different areas in services. So each part of the services business is a bit unique, and at the same time, they all stitch together. That's part of the strength of the offering that we have is following a credit lifecycle right from origin to completion. So I would say there are different competitors in each parts of the business. We'll start maybe at the back end. In the recovery solutions business, we've talked about a lot of times that there is really a champion-challenger model in that, and so that's The primary competitor they're up against is sort of a single other competitor. There are smaller competitors in various parts, but for the biggest part, it's against a single competitor. And that's where our service levels are exceeding those of our competition and where we're winning additional volume from customers we have as well as onboarding some new customers. In the middle there, maybe in the regulatory space, I think the market has a few more competitors. couple of larger ones and that's where we're seeing some disruption in that market and where we're taking advantage of that but it still remains very very competitive I think there's new entrance coming into that given the market disruption and so we're well positioned as an existing provider with a history of performance and stability in that part and then you know in the KYC and and some of the other parts of our business it's really those are our products that we have to help complete the set. We're not as worried about competition in some of those areas because it's part of a larger offering that we tag on to some of the stronger parts of our business. So hopefully that answers your question, Aaron, at a high level. On the second part, on the AI component of it, obviously AI is something that we're – interested in and watching carefully we have our own ai internal team that's looking at how we utilize ai for efficiencies whether that's in our core operations our corporate services are in our services parts of our business um we also use ai as you would expect in some of the i was going to say traditional areas although that's a bit of a weird word given how new it is but in helping in our development in our technology solutions and even in our services area The threat of AI really is a different concept. Right now, we provide services to customers to help them interact with registries or regulatory services that are by nature fairly locked down. And the benefit we have is the relationships with those services. or those regulatory and registry services, which are provided on a contractual basis. So we don't see, we're always watching AI. We don't see it as a tremendous threat in those areas because customers are looking for entities with source of truth, not AI that doesn't actually have access to a lot of that privileged information. So something we're keeping our eye on, we're utilizing it appropriately internally, and we'll make sure that our systems are set up to continue to provide the trusted information that customers are looking for.

speaker
Erin Kyle
Analyst, CIBC

Thank you. That's a lot of helpful detail there. And then maybe just on the guidance, can you unpack some of the assumptions baked into the low end versus the high end of the guide and how we should think about that?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Yeah, I can start. So yeah, so obviously registry operations contributes a significant amount of the EBITDA to the organization. And of course, it's dependent on the Saskatchewan economy. So transaction volumes and prices. And so what we've got, the range reflects various outcomes in that business. And then, you know, we've got, you know, services, business where we're expecting, you know, continual growth. You know, this year we talked about how You know, diversification has helped, you know, stabilize that business. But, you know, we continue, as Sean talked earlier, to, you know, invest in it and, you know, both from a sales standpoint and technology. And we do anticipate, you know, we're planning for growth in that business. And then, you know, in technology solutions, we're continuing to deliver on the contracts that we, you know, that we exist. So the big variable is really the Saskatchewan economy because that has the biggest impact on the adjusted EBITDA of the company.

speaker
Erin Kyle
Analyst, CIBC

Thank you. And maybe I can just ask a quick follow-up there just on the margin profile for services in particular because you've mentioned some investments. in that business. But I know the margin has been strong exiting 2025 as a function of the higher recovery solutions revenue and some of the increased fees and regulatory solutions. So maybe as we look to 2026, where should we expect margins to kind of taper out? Is it more in the mid 20% level or should we expect them to kind of step back down as you invest more in the business?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Now, expected to be, you know, we see recovery solutions being strong, you know, continue to be strong in 2026 with auto, you know, delinquencies, you know, still remaining high. So, because that is a higher margin business, we expect that to, you know, keep the margin of services up at, you know, what we've seen for the past year.

speaker
Erin Kyle
Analyst, CIBC

Thank you.

speaker
Victor
Operator

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Paul Traver from RBC Capital Markets. Your line is open. Thanks so much, and good morning.

speaker
Paul Traver
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Just a question in regards to AI and software in general. Are you looking at or are you seeing the possibility of acquisitions of software vendors that are in the that are focused on either registry operations or services, just given the decline in self-revaluations.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Great question, Paul. I think, you know, from an M&A perspective, our pipeline remains active and it encompasses all three of our segments right now. So, we're looking for M&A in the registry space itself or regulatory space like, you know, re-aligned fits and services already sort of answered the question that we're interested in certain products. The technology side of it, though, is a really interesting part of the business for us. We've not acquired technology since our original ERS acquisition, and it's something where we see that there might be some opportunity. Again, that's all sort of active pipeline, but it is an interesting area of focus for us.

speaker
Paul Traver
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

That's interesting. Thanks for that comment. The second question, just on the agreement that you announced in March with the Employees Union, the five-year agreement, Can you just remind us again, what percent of employees are unionized? Is there a framework for a minimum number of employees that you need to have within registry operations? And then lastly, how do we think about the annual wage increases embedded in that contract versus what price increases may be embedded in the MSA?

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

So I'll answer the first part of that also. Approximately 19% of our workforce is unionized and really in our, you know, Saskatchewan Registry's division is, you know, where that is. You know, and those You know, you saw the values, you know, the increase per year, of course, in the MSA agreement with the government of Saskatchewan. You know, we do have a CPI increase as it relates to the core flat fees. And, you know, those range, you know, again, CPI has ranged over the last three, four years from, you know, 1.8% to, you know, obviously coming out of COVID was as high as 6%. Most recently, in the past year, it's just about 2%. But then on the other part of the registry fees is the ad valorem fee, which is based on the fair market value of properties transacted. And that really is sort of adjusted to market. And as you've read, the market in Saskatchewan has been going up and has been just around that 3% or higher in the last few years. Yeah, so the second and third part of your question, Paul, is there a minimum number of staff that we need to retain under that? The answer is no. We work very collectively and collaboratively with our union on positions there. We've got a really good relationship with them. We'll continue to invest with SGU and with our jobs in Saskatchewan, but there's no minimum required under contract. The last part of your question, you know, Bob sort of answered it a bit in terms of the increases. They would be very much in line with Saskatchewan CPI, so we're very comfortable with what those would be.

speaker
Paul Traver
Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

Okay, thanks for taking the questions.

speaker
Victor
Operator

Thank you. As a reminder, that's star 11 for questions, star 11. Our next question will come from Trevor Reynolds from Acumen. Your line is open.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Hey, guys. I think most of my questions have been answered, but I was just wondering if I could get your insight or your thoughts around the sales in Saskatchewan. They're off a little bit to start the year. I was just wondering how you see that moving forward here and how that balances out in terms of the increase in price, if you expect any slip in revenue from registry here in Q1. Thanks for the question, Trevor. As you've noted, the Saskatchewan Realtors Association has noted a bit of a drop in February in home sales. That's really all tied back to the constraints, the supply constraints that we have. So we've talked about that for some time. I think the good news on that, well, there's a couple pieces of good news on that. One is that builders and permits and those are very, very active this year. Those tend to be up and so there's lots of new construction happening in anticipation of trying to fulfill that demand. But secondly, I think even the realtors in general, not necessarily in their announcement, the realtors in general expect that The sellers are, because of the strength of the market, sellers are actually readying their homes for sale this spring, and they actually expect 2026 to be one of the strongest years on record. So we have a little bit of a dip right now in terms of timing as sales are down, as inventory is low, as people are getting ready for the spring session or spring season, I guess, for home sales. but they do expect that to pick up. So, again, we remain confident in the outlook and guidance that we've given, and that's, of course, based on what we expect in the Saskatchewan registries. Okay. Thanks. Thanks, Trevor. Thank you, Trevor.

speaker
Victor
Operator

Thank you. I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I want to turn back over to Jonathan for closing remarks.

speaker
Jonathan Hackshaw
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Capital Markets

Thank you, Victor. With No further questions. We'd like to, once again, thank everyone for joining us in today's call, and we look forward to speaking with you again soon at our next reporting period. Thanks very much, and have a great day.

speaker
Victor
Operator

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does include the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone have a great day.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

-

-