Saskatchewan residents sneeze into spring

As the May flowers begin to bloom in the province, so does allergy season.

According to the Aerobiology Research Lab, Saskatoon will see a swift rise in birch, ash, and oak pollen, along with snow-delayed poplar, elm, and cedar pollen. Aerobiology Research Laboratories director, Daniel Coates, shared his predictions of this year’s allergy season with Global News.

“Because we had such a cold spell, a lot of Canada has seen a slow start to pollen season, which means it’s going to get really intense in a very short period of time,” explained Coates.

For anyone living in Regina, though, there may be some relief this allergy season.

“Regina, if you’re an allergy sufferer, is one of the best places to live in Canada. It ranks third out of our top five, followed only by the Maritimes,” said Coates.

And Saskatoon is not too far behind.

“We just released a report and it shows that Saskatoon is actually the fifth-best place to live in Canada if you have a tree allergy,” shared Coates.

Unfortunately, that does not mean there still won’t be some red eyes and runny noses this season, with pollen increasing significantly across Canada over the last few decades.

“We’ve seen pollen increase in Canada over double over the last 35 years to well over millions of grains, where it used to be like in the lower half million type of idea,” Coates said. “We’re seeing a lot more pollen in the air, and it’s only continuing to get worse.”

Watch the video above to find out more about how seasonal allergies may affect your spring.

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