Surveys show residents remain satisfied with City services
A pair of civic surveys conducted for the City of Saskatoon earlier this year show most residents remain satisfied with life in their community and the municipal services they receive. The surveys also reveal trends in where respondents would like to see the City focus future efforts.
The 2023 Civic Satisfaction & Performance Survey and Civic Services Survey on Performance, Priorities and Preferences were conducted by Forum Research Inc. through their online panel in May and June 2023, respectively. Due to the random sampling for these online surveys, the sample is reflective of Saskatoon’s population and therefore the data is reliable and representative of the community.
“These two surveys are a very important measure of how residents feel about their city and the services their municipal government provides,” says Celene Anger, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer. “Results of both surveys will be used to inform decisions related to strategic priorities, budgeting and service delivery, as well as to highlight opportunities for continues improvement.”
Survey Highlights
When asked as part of the Civic Satisfaction and Performance Survey, a large majority of respondents (86%) say they are satisfied with living in Saskatoon – this is consistent with the 2021 survey results. When asked about quality of services provided by the City, eight in ten people (81%) indicate satisfaction; and the large majority of respondents (83%) rate the value of services they receive from the City as very good or good value. This is also consistent with 2021 survey results.
When asked what the single most important issue is facing the City, nearly one in five (19%) of respondents say it is homelessness, followed by crime/public safety/policing (15%) and roads and sidewalk maintenance (8%).
Similar issues are highlighted in responses to the Performance, Priorities and Preferences Survey as the top three service areas where they would like to see the City provide more service: affordable housing (60%), road maintenance (58%) and snow & ice management (55%).
To a much smaller degree, the top three areas where respondents indicate they would like to see the City provide less service were community grants (19%), planning and growth (17%) and recreation and culture programs (16%).
Meanwhile, overall satisfaction remains the same or higher for many of the 29 civic services asked about in the Performance, Priorities and Preferences Survey.
Ranking with the highest satisfaction among the services that survey respondents were asked about:
- Reliability of electrical services (8.7 out of 10)
- Quality of drinking water (8.3 out of 10)
- Fire protection (8.1 out of 10)
- Garbage collection (8.0 out of 10)
- Recycling collection (8.0 out of 10)
- Indoor leisure centres (7.9 out of 10)
- Outdoor sports fields (7.9 out of 10)
- Indoor ice rinks (7.9 out of 10)
- Recreation programs and services (7.9 out of 10)
- Maintenance of city parks (7.7 out of 10)
- Speed of water main break repairs (7.6 out of 10)
- Police services (7.6 out of 10)
- Landfill services (7.6 out of 10)
Both surveys and their respective results will be part of an information report at City Council’s Governance and Priorities Committee meeting on Wednesday, September 13.
Full summaries and the detailed results of both surveys are also available on the City website by visiting saskatoon.ca/civic-services-surveys.