WinterCityYXE: Help Bring More Energy to Winter!

The City of Saskatoon is inviting residents to help create a new approach to how we perceive winter in Saskatoon. WinterCityYXE, Saskatoon’s Winter City Strategy, will identify ways in which we can work together as a community to make Saskatoon a great place to live in the winter time.

“The Winter City YXE Strategy will help make our city more accessible in the winter so that everyone can participate in winter life, identify ways to create more activity and bring more energy to the winter season,” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental & Corporate Initiatives. “We want to create a more resilient economy outside of the summer and Christmas seasons, so we are asking our community stakeholders to help us identify what changes are necessary, and to work with us in making these changes in our community for the benefit of residents, businesses and visitors.”

The City is engaging residents, business owners, community groups and other stakeholders to develop a ‘blizzard’ of ideas in the following areas:

• Winter Life: How can we celebrate the inviting and fun quality of life we have here, even in the coldest months of the year?
• Winter Design: How can we improve community comfort and accessibility for everyone, even in the ice and snow? 
• Winter Culture: How can we build enthusiasm for winter, take advantage of winter opportunities, and tell the story of our winter city?
• Winter Economy: How can we address challenges associated with winter to create a more vibrant economy in the winter?

Citizens are invited to provide their ideas and comments online, by e-mail or by mail and will be provided with tools to host their own “Kitchen Table Talks.” The City will also host a number of roundtable sessions and meetings with stakeholder groups.  

To encourage creative thinking, the City created an inventory of winter facilities, activities and events that already exist in Saskatoon. The exercise will share experiences from other cities, including Edmonton, which recently launched a major winter city initiative gaining recognition around the world. Results from this phase of engagement, and a plan to move forward with the Strategy development will be presented to City Council in the spring.

In addition, the City is making available grant funding totalling $35,000 to support pilot initiatives which advance learning in this area or move core concepts of the Strategy forward.  Grant dollars are available for new winter program or design initiatives that add a new dimension to existing initiatives, pilot an urban design concept in a high-use public area, and/or facilitate linkages between existing initiatives to create new outcomes.

For more information on the Winter City Strategy, grant funding opportunities, or the community engagement process, visit Saskatoon.ca/wintercityyxe.