The Saskatoon Speaks Community Vision is now complete. The Community Vision document summarizes community perspectives that emerged from Saskatoon Speaks. It captures shared values and aspirations, along with the community’s vision and potential strategies related to eight inter-related themes including Social Well-Being; Parks, Recreation, and Community Safety; Arts and Culture; Moving Around; Shaping Growth; The City Centre; The Environment; and The Economy. 

The Community Vision document is now available. Additional information, including more detailed responses from the community in a variety of interim reports is also available.

Thank you to all the citizens who participated in Saskatoon Speaks to help shape our future. Between 7,000 and 10,000 citizens representing a full spectrum of Saskatoon’s diverse population were involved over eight months.    

Saskatoon Speaks, Shape Our Future, was a community visioning process where citizens told us what matters to them, what they like and value about Saskatoon, what they want to improve, and what they aspire to achieve as Saskatoon grows over the next 50 – 70 years.

The Community Vision described in the final Vision Document will provide input into the Strategic Plan, as well as other City plans, such as the Culture Plan and City Centre Plan, to ensure the plans align with broad community values and goals.  The purpose of this document is not just limited to City initiatives. It is up to our entire community to shape our future. We encourage other organizations and agencies that play a role in building a great city to find ways that align with the vision.

For the City and citizens, Saskatoon Speaks was the beginning of an ongoing process of planning collaboratively for growth and change. As new initiatives are undertaken, the City will continue to engage the community and encourage public input, building on the success of Saskatoon.

The Community Visioning document will outline the opportunities and challenges facing Saskatoon, summarize what we heard during the visioning process and will describe the community’s long-term vision for the city.  It will inform the City’s Strategic Plan and other planning initiatives but also is intended to assist others who have a role in building a great city.  

Listen and Learn:

In May 2010, Urban Strategies Inc. and Crosby Hanna & Associates, the consulting firms hired to lead this process, began to gather information on Saskatoon’s history, strengths, and challenges to date. From there, interviews were conducted in June with various stakeholders from a cross section of the community. These interviews provided further insight into what Saskatonians really value and what is seen as the City’s greatest assets and biggest challenges to members of the community.

Official Launch:

Saskatoon Speaks officially launched September 9, 2010 to a packed house at Galaxy Theatre. It was there that the many aspects of this project were introduced. The first visioning video premiered and the Saskatoon Speaks website was launched. The website includes background information on the major issues facing Saskatoon. It also included various online questionnaires, an interactive blog and other social media tools that could be used to carry on an online conversation between citizens using Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

City Summit #1:

The public consultation aspect of the project began with the Saskatoon Speaks City Summit. The summit kicked off September 29, 2010 with an evening with Peter Mansbridge. Mansbridge delivered an inspiring keynote address, speaking about the importance of being involved in civic issues and participating in a process like Saskatoon Speaks. Mansbridge emphasized the significance of civic engagement and encouraged everyone to take advantage of this unique opportunity.

 Also on stage that night was a panel of inspiring local speakers. Joining MC Richard Brown (CKOM News Talk Radio) was Al Anderson (long time local business owner), Vera Pezer (Sports Psychologist, U of S Chancellor), Amulya Mohan (recent immigrant from India with a Masters in Human Resources), Jacqueline Cook (University Student and Youth Representative at the 2010 G20 Summit in Ontario), and Leanne Bellegarde (Lawyer). Each shared their hopes and dreams for Saskatoon and took part in a panel discussion of what makes Saskatoon a great place to live.

The summit continued October 1st and 2nd. Both days included presentations on Saskatoon’s development to date and 7 key themes in which growing cities face challenges and opportunities.

Hundreds of residents came out to the Saskatoon Speaks City Summit to speak up and shape our future. They shared their values and discussed their vision for Saskatoon as the city continues to grow. Find out what we heard from those conversations by checking out the City Summit Interim Report.

Focused Visioning Workshops & Open House:

A series of focused visioning workshops and an open house were hosted November 30 - December 2, 2010. The workshop and open house provided an opportunity for more detailed discussions. Participants explored and refined emerging vision directions that capture community aspirations and identified a range of possible strategies to achieve them. Find out what we heard from those conversations by checking out the Focused Visioning Interim Report.

For those who wished to have a discussion with other citizens but could not make it to any public events, Saskatoon Speaks prepared a Community Voice Toolkit for the community to host their own mini Community Voice Sessions with their groups or organizations. Find out what we heard from those conversations by checking out the Voice It Your Way Report #1.

A series of questionnaires were posted at www.saskatoonspeaks.com from October 2010 to February 2011. Before answering the questions and sharing their vision for the 7 themes, citizens could view the same information that was presented at the City Summit through information sheets and PowerPoint presentations posted on the website. Find out what we heard from those conversations by checking out the Voice It Your Way Report #1.   

Youth Voice Toolkit:

To ensure the participation of youth in the development of our vision, Saskatoon Speaks also prepared a Youth Voice Toolkit for high schools across the city. Find out what we heard from those conversations by checking out the Voice It Your Way Report #2.   

"What You Said" Events & Activities:

The Saskatoon Speaks “What You Said” Forum held on March 16 and the Aboriginal Gathering held on April 7, 2011 were a chance to share what we’ve heard from the community and make sure we captured “what you said”.  For those who could not make the forum or gathering, online questionnaires were made available from March 16 to April 13, 2011.