A buyer typically puts down $1,000 to $5,000 as a show of commitment, not as a partial payment the seller can spend, because the funds stay untouched in trust and only get released and applied to the purchase price once the deal actually closes.
Whoever holds it, whether that is the listing brokerage's trust account under Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission rules or the buyer's lawyer's trust account, cannot release a dollar of it without both sides agreeing or a court deciding, so neither a seller nor a buyer can simply claim it based on their own read of the contract.
The number matters less than the paperwork behind it, since a well-documented deposit held correctly avoids the disputes that actually cost people money and time. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.