News Releases

The risk of flooding during intense summer rainfalls is much lower for more than 50 properties near Churchill District Park. A dry storm pond in the park, which will hold flood water and serve as a sports field whenever dry, is substantially complete. It is the second dry storm pond to be built under the City of Saskatoon’s Flood Control Strategy (FCS).

“Substantial completion means it is mostly done, but there’s still some finishing touches to do before the space can officially open,” says Director of Saskatoon Water, Russ Munro. “The site will remain fenced off until fall 2023 to give the newly installed sod and trees time to establish.”

The FCS, approved by City Council in 2018, is aimed at reducing flooding in nine of Saskatoon’s most flood prone areas. The first dry storm pond opened in W.W. Ashley District Park in October. Right now, plans are in the works to begin construction on a third dry storm pond in Weaver Park in early 2023.  

The Churchill Park dry storm pond took approximately nine months to build. It will reduce summer flood concerns around Ruth Street and Cairns Avenue, Bute Street and Munroe Avenue, Ruth Street and York Avenue, and Bute Street and Albert Avenue.

“Residents will notice new trees, a new pathway, new multi-use sports fields, and spectator seating built into the slopes. We are very pleased with the result and look forward to the neighbourhood enjoying the new space next year,” says Munro.

Dry storm ponds are designed to hold water that would otherwise cause flooding during intense rainfalls. The water flows from nearby properties and roads into the dry storm pond before it slowly drains into the storm sewer and to the South Saskatchewan River. Prior to the establishment of the FCS, Saskatoon already had nine dry storm ponds, mostly in neighbourhoods built after 1989 when enhanced storm water infrastructure standards were established.

The Government of Canada is contributing 40% of the eligible construction costs up to a maximum of $21.6 million toward nine FCS projects.  The City is funding the remaining construction costs through the Storm Water Utility Capital Program and revenue generated from Storm Water Utility charges. 

For more information about the FCS, visit saskatoon.ca/floodplan.

City Council is set to consider the Administration’s recommendation that the future Downtown event centre/arena be located on the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot, north of 22^nd Street between 1^st Avenue and Pacific Avenue. The recommendation will be discussed at a Special Meeting of Council, Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

The Administration’s analysis identified two feasible site options for the future Downtown event centre/arena: the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot and the North Downtown/City Yards. City Council further directed Administration to proceed with public engagement on both sites.

The site recommendation is based, in part, on an evaluation of the sites against extensive technical criteria. Based on this evaluation, the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot site emerged with the highest score, ranking favourably in nearly every category.

Also supporting this recommendation are the survey results where respondents identified key opportunities with the Midtown site to be its proximity to amenities, its ease of access due to its central location and the potential for increased activities in the Downtown.

Despite these key opportunities, the survey results also identified some key challenges; most notably, parking availability and traffic congestion. The Administration believes the parking challenge can be mitigated at the proposed site by clearly identifying the current inventory of existing off-street paid parking, private stalls that could be converted, and off-street paid parking stalls within walking distance.  More specifically, as part of the project, Administration intends to replace the 526 stalls currently in the north parking lot and may be augmented with construction of additional parking following a parking needs assessment.

In terms of traffic congestion, the future Bus Rapid Transit routes will connect the District to the entire city, efficiently moving a large number of people in and out of the area, thereby providing alternative transportation options and reducing or minimizing the perceived challenge of traffic congestion.

The Administration also consulted with the Downtown Event and Entertainment District Advisory Group, which was established and appointed by City Council, on the site options. The Advisory Group supports the Administration’s recommendation of the Midtown Shopping Centre North Parking Lot.

The public engagement occurred between August 30 and October 3, 2022, several options for feedback were available to the public. This included a representative sample survey, an opt-in online public survey, an online survey for local business and organizations, and in-person intercept surveys.

The survey results have been consolidated and shared with City Council for their deliberations on the site of the Downtown event centre/arena, and the development of the Downtown Event and Entertainment District. In addition, future stages of the project will be informed by the feedback from this process.

The City appreciates and thanks the over 8,300 people and stakeholders who participated in the open survey and shared their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of each site. The survey results are available on saskatoon.ca/engage for all respondents and the general public.  The agenda and corresponding reports can be found on the City’s website.

For more information visit saskatoon.ca/eventdistrict.

The City of Saskatoon has a new Waste bylaw. On Monday, October 31, City Council approved Bylaw No. 9844, The Waste Bylaw, 2022, which now has replaced the previous Bylaw No. 8310, The Waste Bylaw, 2004.

“In anticipation of new waste diversion programs beginning in 2023, the City decided to update the structure and content of our Waste Bylaw, which had been first approved 18 years ago and had undergone many amendments,” says Brendan Lemke, Director of Water and Waste Operations. “The new bylaw prepares us for the curbside organics program and Recovery Park a diversion depot co-located at the landfill, which are both set to launch in 2023.”

The changes in the new bylaw include:

•    New requirements to place recyclable and organic materials into the appropriate collection containers
•    Guidelines for home composting systems, including requiring that they be located within property lines
•    Standards for new multi-unit residential buildings to ensure City waste collection can be completed
•    New standards for waste containers used for construction activities
•    Restrictions on the composting of elm wood waste in any City program to help protect Saskatoon’s urban forest from Dutch elm disease.

“The Waste Bylaw keeps our community safe and our environment clean by instructing our community on how to properly store, sort, divert, and dispose of solid waste,” says Lemke. “The City will continue to take an education-first approach with our Waste bylaw to help make sure residents and businesses are aware of what is required and make a change before following through on enforcement.” 

For more information on the City’s Waste Bylaw, visit www.saskatoon.ca/content/bylaw-9844-waste-bylaw-2022.

A survey conducted on behalf of the City of Saskatoon by Forum Research between February and April 2022 indicates that significantly more residents claim climate change is an important environmental challenge that must be addressed—an increase of 41% from five years ago.

When asked to identify the main environmental issues facing the City, residents are most likely to focus on climate change related concerns such as extreme weather and global warming, as well as waste reduction issues like waste management and city cleanliness. The survey showed that three in five respondents raised these issues, with 50% of respondents saying they believe climate change is negatively affecting Saskatoon today.

The survey also showed residents are most concerned with how climate-related issues will affect them financially, with more than 80% of respondents saying they are very or somewhat concerned about how climate change will affect the cost of food, energy, public services, and insurance.

“The good news is, the City has been working on greenhouse gas emission reductions and waste diversion initiatives for some time now,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “The City has also been working on several implementation plans related to waste reduction, aggressive emission reduction targets, climate action and resilience. We are focused on finding ways to make our operations more sustainable and environmentally friendly, with a focus on high-impact activities.”

The City’s Climate Action Plan: Progress Report 2021 will be presented to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on November 7. The report tallies the progress that has been made on the Climate Action Plan, which includes The Low Emissions Community Plan and the Corporate Climate Adaptation Strategy. 

The City has committed to reducing emissions by 80% below the 2014 baseline by 2050 for both the community and the City’s own operations and has set an interim target of 15% reduction for the community and 40% reduction for the City by 2023.

2022 Environmental Awareness: Resident Survey can be found at Saskatoon.ca/climate

Climate Action Plan: Progress Report 2021 can be found at Saskatoon.ca/climate

A report headed to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services outlines progress that the City of Saskatoon (City) has made toward greater sustainability and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Climate Action Plan: Progress Report 2021 (2021 Progress Report) will be presented to the committee on November 7. The report tallies the progress that has been made on the Climate Action Plan, which includes The Low Emissions Community Plan (LEC Plan) and the Corporate Climate Adaptation Strategy. 

The City has committed to reducing emissions by 80% below the 2014 baseline by 2050 for both the community and the City’s own operations and has set an interim target of 15% reduction for the community and 40% reduction for the City by 2023.

In 2021, Saskatoon emitted 3,509,600 tonnes of CO₂e, which is a 9% reduction from the 2014 baseline of 3,852,200. Saskatoon’s per capita emissions decreased by 20% since 2014 at 12.4 tonnes of CO₂e per person (down from 15.6 per person in 2014). Reductions were seen in all sectors except Agriculture. Emissions from the City’s own operations decreased by 3% (from 225,000 in 2014 to 217,800 in 2021) with most reductions seen in the Buildings and Streetlighting sectors.

“The good news is, our emissions are trending downwards,” says Director of Sustainability Jeanna South. “Our goals are aggressive because they have to be. Climate change is happening, and we need to adapt our actions and mitigate potential damage quickly. We no longer have the option of taking our time. Our actions at the City of Saskatoon set the tone for the rest of the community, and we have put careful thought into our goals and have detailed plans for how to achieve each one of them.”

The City has progressed 26 of the 40 Actions outlined in the LEC Plan and 18 of the 30 Actions in the Corporate Climate Adaptation Strategy.  One area of progress that is also a focus of the November 7 Committee meeting is energy generation, with 10/12 actions on track.  Alternative Currents is an implementation plan for Saskatoon’s energy transition and will also be discussed at the Committee meeting.

Alternative Currents provides an implementation plan that is founded in the LEC Plan which establishes the City’s framework for becoming completely powered by renewable and/or low-emissions energy, including investments in local energy generation facilities (solar photovoltaics, hydropower, and district energy) through 12 actions. Alternative Currents provides a phased implementation plan for progressing these actions over the next 10 years. 

“Fossil fuels are increasingly costly, and we cannot control for that. What we can do is look at ways to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels so that we insulate the City budget and the mill rate from this variable to some degree,” comments Jeanna South.

Specific initiatives from Alternative Currents that help progress corporate climate action targets include the installation of solar PV on municipal rooftops and land, the expansion of landfill gas capture from the Saskatoon Landfill, renewable energy procurement, residential rebates and reviewing solar PV access and orientation to encourage resident self-generation. Each action in the implementation plan will be brought forward separately for funding approval by Mayor and Council before further work progresses.

Reports available:

The City’s Climate Action Plan: Progress Report 2021 can be found at Saskatoon.ca/climatechange

Alternative Currents: An Implementation Plan for Saskatoon’s Renewable and Low-Emission Energy Transition can be found at Saskatoon.ca/renewablenergy

From November 1, 2022, through October 31, 2023, the City will be piloting a new parking program for Veterans that will allow Saskatchewan Veterans with registered Veteran plates issued by SGI to park free of charge in Saskatoon's pay parking zones within the posted time limits.

”Through community engagement and research, it was found that amendments to the existing program could be made to provide a simplified and improved process for veteran parking similar to other Saskatchewan cities that are offering Veteran parking programs” says Matt Grazier, Director of Community Standards with the City of Saskatoon, “This is a pilot program that we are pleased to offer as a small ‘thank you’ to Saskatchewan Veterans for their service to our city, province, and country.”

This initiative is part of a one-year pilot project exploring the impacts of this program on parking supply and turnover in pay parking zones. At the end of the pilot project, City Administration and City Council will review the impacts and decide whether to continue the program beyond the pilot’s end date.

For more information, visit saskatoon.ca/veteranparking.

Another construction season has drawn to a close and with City Council’s annual $64 million investment, City and contractor crews have again improved several kilometres of roadways and sidewalks and replaced water mains and service connections in historic neighbourhoods.

A major rehabilitation project on Circle Drive North involved rebuilding severely deteriorated curbs and medians between Alberta Avenue and Millar Avenue. The east bound lanes were also repaved. It’s just one of many high traffic areas of Saskatoon to receive major improvements this year.

“We’ll return in the spring of 2023 to resurface the westbound lanes,” says General Manager of Transportation and Construction, Terry Schmidt. “This was our plan from the beginning of the construction season because we wanted to avoid major traffic tie ups and restrictions to business access points on this section of Circle Drive over such an extended continuous timeframe.”

Other major projects included intersection resurfacing and adding a right-hand turning lane on Warman Road southbound onto 33^rd Street, rehabilitating the Spadina Crescent Bridge, repaving the Attridge Drive overpass at Circle Drive, and the continuation of water main replacement projects in several neighbourhoods. Schmidt says approximately 24 kilometres of water mains and sanitary sewer mains were replaced or rehabilitated in 2022, which is about the distance from Downtown Saskatoon to Warman.

“We truly appreciate the patience of residents in neighbourhoods where water main replacements took place,” Schmidt says. “In some areas, we ran into unexpected circumstances which caused delays. The water main replacement program will continue next year.

Also in 2023, construction will have an impact to commuters using the nearly 40-year-old Circle Drive North Bridge. One side will accommodate two-way traffic while the other side is rehabilitated. The pedestrian bridge underneath will not be affected. Several more construction projects will be planned over the upcoming winter months.

Sidewalks are also a major focus every summer with City departments working collaboratively to make significant improvements to the management and execution of the Sidewalk Repair Program. In 2022, crews repaired or rehabilitated approximately 59 kilometers of sidewalks and curbs.

For more 2022 construction highlights, please visit saskatoon.ca/construction.

New online educational tools and in-person support are now available for Saskatoon businesses and organizations working to implement new recycling requirements within the Waste Bylaw that came into effect earlier this year.

As of January 1, 2022, all businesses and organizations in Saskatoon are required to separate recyclable materials from garbage. The materials covered by the regulations are the same items that are currently included in the City’s residential recycling programs. The new regulation means all businesses and organizations are required to:

• Have separate labelled containers for garbage and recycling;
• Educate employees and tenants annually about which materials are recyclable and how to sort them; and
• Ensure recycling and garbage are removed and taken to an appropriate facility.

“As businesses and organizations generate 68% of the garbage in our community, this program is an important step towards Saskatoon’s waste diversion targets,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “In addition to conserving natural resources, saving valuable space in our landfill, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, having a business and organization recycling program demonstrates an organization’s commitment to the economic and environmental well-being of our community.” 

To help businesses and organizations to be successful in meeting these requirements, the City of Saskatoon has launched a variety of new tools and resources to access from a dedicated webpage, saskatoon.ca/businessrecycling. Whether a business or organization currently has a recycling program in place or is still working toward meeting the requirements, there are many helpful aids now available to access.

These new supports include a new Recycling Guide for Businesses and Organizations, an educational video on Business Recycling to explain the requirements, and recycling signage to print and put in place onsite. Another key tool available on the webpage is the addition of the Business Waste Wizard, which will help businesses and organizations find out where they can divert recyclable items as well as other materials. Businesses may also request in-person support, such as lunch and learn presentations or site visits to assist with setting up waste diversion and troubleshooting issues.

“These new resources help us to progress the City’s Solid Waste Reduction and Diversion Plan,” says South. “The residential recycling program has been successful in keeping items out of the landfill, and now with businesses and organizations coming on board, all of our community will be working together to progress our waste diversion goals.”

Education will be the focus for the next year, and enforcement is set to begin in October 2023. Businesses that meet specific criteria may apply for an exemption from the new regulations, which will then be reviewed for approval by the City.

In 2023, a similar regulation for food and yard waste diversion will take effect, which will require businesses and organizations that generate these materials in their operations to separate materials. New education and support for food and yard waste are planned to launch in 2023.

Businesses and organizations are encouraged to visit saskatoon.ca/businessrecycling to find links to all recycling education tools. 

The City’s Governance & Priorities Committee (GPC) will receive an administrative information report on Monday, October 24, 2022, regarding the Municipal Wards Commission's establishment of ward boundaries in Saskatoon. With the next civic election in Saskatoon taking place in 2024, a review of current ward boundaries must be undertaken according to The Cities Act, Bylaw No. 8164 which contains the rules for creating wards.

“Ward boundary reviews must be completed no less than 180 days before a general municipal election,” says Adam Tittemore, City Clerk. “As we will engage with ward residents on any proposed ward boundary changes, a good amount of lead time is required to undertake the review process.”

Ward boundary reviews have been conducted for each of the last three elections, in 2012, 2016, and 2020. Past reports of the Municipal Wards Commission have noted the projected growth in several neighbourhoods and anticipated that further ward modifications would be required before future municipal elections.

Why review current ward boundaries?

The Cities Act requires that the population of each ward be uniform and that any ward must not vary by more than 10% from the figure that is obtained by dividing the total population of the city by the number of wards into which the city is divided.  If a variance of more than 10% is determined, the Municipal Wards Commission is required to review the ward boundaries. While not applicable in this case, the legislation also requires a review at least once every three election cycles.

Determining population in Saskatoon

The 2021 Census indicates that Saskatoon’s total population is 266,141 (an increase from 247,201 in 2016). However, traditionally the City has utilized provincial health data which has been determined to be a more accurate and timely reflection of the population of Saskatoon. Utilizing eHealth data current to June 30, 2022, the City’s Planning and Development Branch has determined the total population to be 285,445 (an increase from 270,790 in December 2018).

Ward 2 and Ward 7 are affected

Each of the ten wards in Saskatoon must have a population within +/- 10% of 28,545 (25,690 – 31,399). Current ward populations using June 30, 2022, Saskatchewan eHealth population information show that Ward 2 and Ward 7 are both outside of the 10% variation limit. The population within Ward 2 is below the limit, and in Ward 7 it is above.

The Municipal Wards Commission will undertake the process of reviewing the ward boundaries. Public consultation will be an important part of the review process. The new ward boundaries will be established in 2023, to take effect for the 2024 civic election.

Visit saskatoon.ca or contact the City Clerk’s Office at 306-975-3240 for more information.

The Governance & Priorities Committee (GPC) will consider an administrative information report at its next meeting on October 24, 2022, on the 2023 Business Plan and Budget’s pressures and opportunities. The City’s Multi-Year Business Plan & Budget (MYBB) Policy allows Administration to bring forward adjustments to the budget in the second year of the two-year cycle. The City is then able to adapt and respond to pressures and opportunities that are present due to changing municipal, provincial, and federal environments.

“This report provides an update on the financial landscape for the City heading into 2023. The world has changed significantly since the initial 2023 budget was prepared and the City is not immune to the inflationary and supply chain issues organizations have faced globally,” says Clae Hack, Chief Financial Officer. 

“While expenditures such as fuel, natural gas and other contracted services have seen increases, the City is also expecting to see significant increases in revenues from sources such as Municipal Revenue Sharing, Investment Income and Transit revenues to offset most of these impacts,” adds Hack.”

Background

At its November 29, 2021, 2022/23 Preliminary Business Plan and Budget meeting, City Council approved the 2023 Operating and Capital Plans. 

The details of the previously approved 2023 Operating Plan can be found in the 2022-2023 Approved Detailed Operating document. Additionally, the approved 2023 Capital Plan can be found in the Approved Capital Budget Project documents. 

Next Steps

“It’s important to note that these potential adjustments have not yet been approved,” adds Hack. “The  budget adjustments and mitigation strategies will be debated by City Council at its 2023 Budget Meeting on November 28, 2022.” 

Administration is exploring options for operating budget reductions for City Council to consider and will present them to City Council on November 28. In addition, capital project adjustments will be presented for deliberation.

Visit saskatoon.ca/budget