Have you tried to find out if there is a probate file for John in Saskatchewan?
I found one for my husband's g-grandfather who had actually lived in Minnesota- we had no idea he had owned land in Sask.
His son had lived there so I had looked for any probate with the right surname and was surprised to find him listed. Ends up he had bought land but never lived on it - I think he likely bought if for his son.
So - may be worth looking into. The probate file for my husband's g-grandfather has a lot of info in it on the family.
Carolyn