What has shifted locally is documentation, not the underlying negotiability. A Saskatoon buyer is now more likely to sign a written representation agreement with their agent before touring homes, spelling out how that agent is paid, which the Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission has always required in principle but buyers rarely saw in writing this early.
For a seller, the practical question stays the same as it always was, whether to offer to pay the buyer's agent's commission as part of a listing agreement drafted alongside legal fees typically $800 to $1,500, and that remains entirely a negotiated choice rather than a fixed requirement either way.
The headlines are about a different market. What matters here is what your own listing agreement actually says. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.