News Releases

The fun doesn’t stop just because the temperature drops! Admission to the Zoo is by donation from November 1 to March 31 each year. Saskatchewan winters typically bring snow and cold temperatures prompting many animals at the Zoo to demonstrate their natural adaptations to handle the coldest months of the year.

“Many of the species we have at the Zoo are well adapted to cold temperatures,” says Jeff Mitchell, Zoo Manager. “The Arctic wolves will grow a second layer of fur to protect themselves against the cold and their thick white fur not only provides insulation but is the perfect camouflage to blend into their surroundings in the wild.”

The snow leopard, Canada lynx and caribou are among some of the many animals that will be embracing the colder temperatures while other zoo animals like the black-tailed prairie dogs and grizzly bears are ready to sleep the chilly winter days away.

“Our zookeepers have been working with our animals to provide an environment where they can practice the same behaviours as their wild counterparts. The black-tailed prairie dogs have been busy digging tunnels all summer long and recently finished hauling mountains of straw and other bedding materials down into their elaborate tunnel systems,” says Mitchell. “We have also seen grizzly bears Mistaya and Koda settling into their den as they prepare to enter torpor.”

In the wild, torpor is a survival tactic used by grizzly bears activated by colder temperatures and decreased food availability. The Zoo will be monitoring the bears closely as their body temperature will decrease about five degrees and their heart rate will slow to about 8-12 beats per minute during torpor.

The dingoes are also prepared for colder temperatures, having moved into a new indoor habitat called the Dingo Den located inside the barn. The dingoes will still have opportunities to explore and enjoy the snow but will remain in their new indoor habitat in favour of warmer temperatures.

The Zoo Gift Shop will be open for the holiday season starting Friday, November 24. Get your 2024 Zoo Season Pass and discover a variety of plush animals, puzzles, games, clothing and more. The Zoo Gift Shop will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. until Sunday, December 31. 

The Zoo is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., visit saskatoon.ca/zoo for more information or to plan your next visit.

On Oct. 30, 2023, SaskAbilities Partners in Employment and the City of Saskatoon entered into a partnership agreement to increase employment opportunities for individuals experiencing disability in the community. This significant agreement comes at the end of Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM), a month dedicated to spotlighting the many benefits of inclusive hiring in the workplace across all industries and sectors.

“Supported employment is a key part of the way SaskAbilities works to build inclusive communities for people of all abilities. The City of Saskatoon has been such a wonderful partner for many years, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to further solidify our working relationship and signify their commitment and dedication to being an inclusive employer in our community.” – Emily Hurd, Regional Director, SaskAbilities Saskatoon Branch

Since 2019, Partners in Employment and the City of Saskatoon have collaborated to secure meaningful employment for 13+ program participants. The partnership agreement aims to “identify and explore opportunities to increase the employment of individuals experiencing disability in Saskatoon and area through cooperative initiatives”, as well, “continue to explore opportunities to strengthen and develop business opportunities” between the City of Saskatoon and the Training Centre at the SaskAbilities Saskatoon Branch.

“Through this partnership, the City commits to working closely with SaskAbilities to promote job shadowing, employment opportunities, and the broader mission of supported employment. This agreement is an accumulation of a lot of great work done by the City to build awareness both internally and within the greater community. We believe in promoting a culture of inclusion and doing so in partnership with a great organization like SaskAbilities.” – Jeff Jorgenson, City Manager, City of Saskatoon.

For more information on SaskAbilities, please visit www.saskabilities.ca.

As directed by City Council, Saskatoon will consider its first Climate Budget during the 2024-25 Business Plan and Municipal Budget deliberations on November 28-30, 2023.

The Funding Environmental Sustainability Actions and Climate Budget Report responds to a request from the Standing Policy Committee on Environment Utilities and Corporate Services (EUCS) and will be on the November 1 agenda. It includes a preview of the Climate Budget as well as details of the resources needed to progress the Low Emissions Community (LEC) and Green Pathways plans.  It outlines both funded and unfunded projects related to these plans.

“What City Council has asked us to do is come up with measures that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases that will require investments in the short term”, says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “The ultimate expectation, looking 30 years out, is that these measures will make us more resilient and efficient while meeting our climate commitments.”

A climate budget is a governance system that establishes actions that the City needs to take in the short-term to achieve long-term targets as set out in the climate action plan.  By integrating the Climate Budget into financial budget decision-making processes, climate and environmental impacts are understood before they occur. This creates a coordinated approach with other budgeting considerations, such as societal impacts, asset management, safety, and economics.

If significant global climate action is not taken, ClimateWest (Costs of Climate Change Report, March 2023) estimates by 2050, the direct annual economic impacts of climate change in Saskatchewan will be $3.1B or $1,875 per capita. ClimateWest projects damage to electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure due to climate change to cost $65-95M annually by 2050 in Saskatchewan alone. Annual flood damages are expected to cost $70-80M, while costs due to delays arising from increased road and rail damage are expected to be $65-125M in the province by 2050.

The 2024-25 Climate Budget presents a two-year window within the 30-year Low Emissions Community (LEC) Plan. The LEC Plan was created to improve the community’s long-term resiliency and efficiency to achieve the City’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target incrementally over time.

Seventy-five per cent of the projects in the Climate Budget support efficient civic operations and services, enhance resiliency, and/or promote sound asset management; these are recommended for funding in the 2024/2025 Business Plan and Budget. These projects also have environmental benefits; most will achieve GHG reductions, some will result in utility cost savings or improve green network resilience and performance. Subject to City Council’s approval, the funded projects include:

• Bus Rapid Transit and electrification - system improvements for Saskatoon Transit and bus purchases;
• Water-saving measures at spray pads/paddling pools and irrigation upgrades in parks which will result in operational savings;
• Civic facility improvements - such as renovations at Archibald Arena;
• Managing the long-term viability of the landfill and reducing waste through the Material Recovery Centre operation, restoration of landfill gas wellfield, and development of a bulky waste program; and
• Green Pathways initiatives that enhance the green network through existing planned projects like park upgrades and storm sewer trunk and collection.

Funding for the initiatives listed comes from capital reserves, external non-City funding, and loans.

The unfunded projects are still required to progress City goals and plans, even if they do not move forward this budget cycle.  These projects may be reconsidered in the next budget cycle, or if priorities and/or resource availability changes. Some of these projects could be funded through loans that pay themselves back with savings, such as loans to the community or fleet electrification. Other projects would require new funds, for instance from property taxes; this has not been recommended at this time.

The GHG reductions estimated from projects in the 2024-2025 Climate Budget includes:

• The LEC reduction goal for 2025 = 201,500 tonnes of CO2e (100 per cent)
• Funded projects estimate = 1,200 tonnes of CO2e reduction (0.6 per cent of the LEC reduction goal)
• Unfunded projects = 18,800 tonnes CO2e reduction at full build-out (9.3 per cent of the goal)
• After combining funded and unfunded projects, there is a gap of undefined projects required to achieve 181,500 tonnes of CO2e reduction, or 90.1 per cent.

The 2024-2025 Climate Budget GHG projection is a conservative estimate; it does not include reductions from projects with high uncertainty that could not be quantified (e.g., active transportation, bus rapid transit); or reductions from projects that were implemented in 2022/2023 (like organics, landfill gas expansion, and others) that could amount to more than 40,000 tonnes of CO₂e reductions each year. 

You can find additional information at Saskatoon.ca/ClimateBudget and Saskatoon.ca/ClimateChange.

While the company hired by the City to process green cart material has defaulted on its contract, green cart organics collection will continue. In the short-term, Loraas will continue to assist the City in processing organics materials while City officials explore cost reduction options by processing the organics in-house.

“We are disappointed that the successful vendor was unable to provide organics processing services under the contract but are fortunate to have measures in place allowing us to pursue other options to avoid disruption of the program,” says Brendan Lemke, Director of Water & Waste Operations. “In the short-term, we will continue working with Loraas while we look to complete a portion of the processing at our own facilities. By sending materials to both the Saskatoon Regional Waste Management Centre and the West Compost Depot, we will help to reduce financial pressures on the utility rates in the short term.”

A report to the November 1 meeting of the Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services Committee (EU&CS) contains details that outline short-term options for processing organics following Green Prairie Environmental's default of its organics processing contract.

The City awarded Green Prairie Environmental (GPE) the contract in September 2020 to provide organics processing services to support the City’s Curbside Organics Program. Despite it being a key condition of the contract, GPE did not site a permanent location for an organics processing facility. The Administration supported GPE to find a suitable location following its initial denial in the RM of Corman Park, but as preparation for a site progressed, GPE was unsuccessful in obtaining regulatory approval to construct the facility. GPE is ultimately unable to process organics in accordance with the contract and has defaulted on the contract as a result.

Since program launch, organics materials have been composted by Loraas and not landfilled unless contaminated. In addition to continuing to haul organics materials to Loraas for processing, the Administration is pursuing options to temporarily process a portion of the materials at the Saskatoon Regional Waste Management Centre and West Compost Depot. The City will continue to divert organics away from the landfill to make a beneficial use product and reduce greenhouse gases from waste. To date, more than 15,000 tonnes of organic waste have successfully been diverted from the landfill since collections began in May. No disruptions to the curbside organics program are expected.

A report with long-term options will be presented to EU&CS by Q1 2024.

Beginning at 3 a.m. City of Saskatoon crews were applying salt to Priority 1 streets as the snow began to fall, and remain on the go today, focusing on Circle Drive and continuing to manage the road conditions on priority streets.  

“Crews focused on Circle drive and other high-speed streets, as these are the streets where collisions due to icy conditions have the potential to be the most serious,” says Goran Saric, Director of Roadways, Fleet and Support. “Bridge decks were also an area of focus.” 

The timing of the snowfall did not allow crews to spread salt on all priority streets before the morning commute. It takes up to 12 hours to apply de-icing material to all priority streets in Saskatoon. Additionally, spreading salt in advance of the overnight snowfall on dry pavement would not have been effective. This is because without any moisture, the majority of the salt would have been blown off the road surface by traffic.  

There is a chance that some icy conditions will develop overnight, as Environment & Climate Change Canada forecasts temperatures to drop further overnight and stay below freezing for the remainder of the week. Crews will be out on the streets continuously to monitor and address conditions as they change. 

Drivers should adjust their driving for the road conditions and leave extra room and time for their commute. We understand the inconvenience that the first snowfall a few hours before the morning commute and icy driving conditions create. We ask for everyone’s patience as crews work to restore normal winter driving conditions on City streets. 

Please watch for blue and amber flashing lights on road maintenance equipment and leave room for the operators to do their work.  

Learn about winter road maintenance at saskatoon.ca/snow. Stay in the snow with the Snow & Ice Report at saskatoon.ca/snowreport. 

The City of Saskatoon has released a new tool for homeowners to better understand their home’s energy use and make improvements.  The map uses artificial intelligence (AI) to produce a digital energy score that can be used to compare against other homes of similar size, age, and type and help users understand how much energy their home consumes.  The map also provides each homeowner with a customized “retrofit roadmap” to see what actions they can take to reduce their energy consumption. 

“Just like home appliances have energy labels that indicate how efficient they are, this map provides a digital energy score for Saskatoon homes. The lower the score, the more efficient the energy use in that home,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “The Home Energy Map helps residents to visualize their home energy use in a different way, comparing it against other homes in the city, and providing them with a list of renovations they can consider to help decrease energy use.”

Saskatoon’s extreme temperatures means that a lot of energy is used at home, with 42% of Saskatoon’s total greenhouse gas emissions coming from heating, cooling, and providing power to homes. The core objective of the Home Energy Map is to help homeowners build momentum on a retrofit journey, and to connect them to other resources such as Energy Coaching to provide hands-on support through the process.

Users have the option to create an account for their home address and provide additional information about their home - including any upgrades they have already completed - to update the total energy score. While only the home energy score is publicly visible, the tool also provides a set of personalized recommendations to account holders for renovations that could help reduce overall energy consumption. 

“The goal of our software tools is to help cities and homeowners to see which actions in which buildings will generate the biggest energy and emissions savings,” says OPEN Technologies CEO Donovan Woollard. “We applaud the City of Saskatoon for its leadership in setting an ambitious reduction target, and for investing in tools like the Home Energy Map to provide a roadmap on how to get there.” 

According to the 2023 Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) Homebuyer Preference Survey, four of the top ten most desired features are energy-related, with “overall energy efficient home” among the top priorities for prospective homebuyers. 

With the Canada Greener Homes initiative, homeowners can access up to $40,000 in interest free loans, and up to $5,600 in grants, making it easier to fund these kinds of renovation activities. This is the fourth home energy-focused initiative the City has launched in 2023 (links below); all programs were funded by the Green Municipal Fund, administered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Associated links:  
Saskatoon.ca/EnergyMap
Saskatoon.ca/EnergyCoaches
Solar.myheat.ca/saskatoon
Saskatoon.ca/RenoResources

The City of Saskatoon is pleased to announce $200,000 funding from the Government of Canada under the Active Transportation Fund to support the implementation of its Active Transportation Plan. The Active Transportation Plan aims to provide more choices to move around Saskatoon by addressing infrastructure for cycling, walking and other modes of active transportation.  

“Residents of Saskatoon increasingly walk, bike, drive or use public transportation to get to their destinations. Our government is investing in these projects to ensure their commutes are safe and pleasant, and to encourage more people to take up active transportation. It is good for our health and for our environment,” says the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities. 

“This funding focuses on planning and education projects, which supports the goals of the Active Transportation Plan to have more places for walking and cycling safely, to build a culture for active transportation, and to encourage more people to walk and ride a bike,” says Jay Magus, Director of Transportation. 

The funding is divided between four active transportation projects, with $50,000 allocated for each:  

1. Millar Avenue from 43rd Street to Marquis Drive: Planning project that includes assessment, engagement and design of a multi-use pathway. 

2. College Drive from Preston Avenue to McOrmond Drive: Feasibility analysis to determine active transportation crossings at interchanges and rail crossings. 

3. Victoria Avenue from Taylor Street to Ruth Street: Planning project that includes assessment, engagement, and design of pedestrian improvements and an all ages and abilities cycling facility. 

4. Active Transportation Street Team: Provide an education program about the rules of the road and the existing bike network.  

“We continuously invest in making Saskatoon a great place to live. Providing active transportation options is one of many ways we are working to support our residents," says Magus.  

Learn more about the City of Saskatoon's Active Transportation Plan.

The opening of the Material Recovery Centre (MRC), formerly the Recovery Park Landfill Expansion, marks a major achievement for the City of Saskatoon as it works towards its 70% waste diversion goal.

The MRC, located on Valley Road at the entrance to the Saskatoon Regional Waste Management Facility (City Landfill) is now open to the public and offers residents free drop-off for many recyclable items as well as a new access point for scaled waste.

“We are thrilled to open the Material Recovery Centre and offer residents of Saskatoon a one-stop waste drop-off location,” says Brendan Lemke, Director of Water and Waste Operations. “With more items with free drop-off and reduced rates for other recyclable materials, we anticipate diverting up to 3,500 tonnes of waste annually that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill.”

The MRC will provide free drop-off at Sort & Go for recycling, small appliances, batteries, oil and anti-freeze, electronics, metals, rimless tires, bicycles and appliances, with a $20 fee for appliances with refrigerant.

Residents can continue to visit the MRC to drop off non-recyclable waste including garbage and elm wood, via Scale & Pay, and have a reduced disposal rate for concrete and brick, which will be diverted. The City is also pleased to offer free disposal of elm wood for the month of October.

For more information on the Material Recovery Centre, including hours of operation and a detailed list of acceptable items and rates, visit saskatoon.ca/mrc.

New online education tools and in-person support are now available for Saskatoon businesses and organizations working to implement new organics diversion requirements within the Waste Bylaw that came into effect earlier this year. The education phase begins this October and enforcement will not occur until October 2024 to give businesses and organizations time to meet the new bylaw regulation.

All businesses and organizations that generate food or yard waste as part of their operations in Saskatoon are required to have separate bins to divert organics from the garbage. The organics regulation means all businesses and organizations are required to:

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

Establishments belonging under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes of industries that are known to generate organic waste are required to follow the bylaw regardless of establishment size or number of employees or tenants. An exemption process is available to address circumstances where materials may not be generated or there are other factors preventing compliance beyond an establishment’s control. Businesses who do not produce food or yard waste as part of their operations do not need an exemption.

“Businesses and organizations generate 68% of the garbage in our community. Approximately 25% is organic waste that could be rescued or composted,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “With the new residential green cart program, the City has already diverted over 11,000 tonnes of food and yard waste from the landfill. Through this program, businesses and organizations will be diverting the same waste as residents and bring us one step closer to achieving the City’s goal of 70% waste diversion.”

To help businesses and organizations meet these new requirements, the City of Saskatoon has launched a dedicated webpage that includes a variety of new tools and resources to access. Resources include a new Organics Guide for Businesses and Organizations and other print materials that can be printed and used on site for education. Businesses may also request in-person support to assist with setting up organics diversion and troubleshooting issues. The Business Waste Wizard remains a resource for businesses in helping sort their waste.

The Solid Waste Reduction and Diversion Plan, finalized in early 2021, includes organic waste diversion for all sectors to be phased in over the next few years. The new residential green cart program rolled out earlier this year and has already has participation rates similar to black cart garbage and blue cart recycling. A multi-unit organics program pilot is set to start later this year for residents that have their waste collected in large communal bins.

Businesses and organizations are encouraged to visit saskatoon.ca/businessorganics for more information and access to resources to get started with their organics programs.

The City of Saskatoon is set to kick off its annual Fall Street Sweeping Campaign, a crucial initiative aimed at maintaining the city's cleanliness and strategy to prevent springtime flooding.  

From October 16 to October 25, street sweeping crews will be hard at work clearing the streets of fallen leaves in the city’s leafiest neighbourhoods: Buena Vista, Caswell Hill, City Park, Exhibition, Holiday Park, King George, Mayfair, Nutana, Riversdale and Varsity View. Find your sweep day at saskatoon.ca/sweep. 

“Leaves can pose a challenge when they accumulate on city streets and can plug catch basins and storm drains, leading to flooding during the spring melt,” says Tracy Danielson, Roadways Manager. 

“This proactive measure is a safeguard for City infrastructure and enhances the overall quality of life for residents.” 

Like residential street sweeping in the spring, temporary parking restrictions will be enforced with ticketing and towing as required. 

How you can help: 

1. Pick up leaves on the sidewalk and boulevard beside your property. Don’t push leaves onto the street because big piles of leaves slow down sweeping. 

2. Put loose leaves in your green cart or take them to a compost depot. Bagged leaves can go in your black cart. 

3. Watch for yellow No Parking signs and move your car by 7:00 a.m. on your sweep day. Refer to Find My Vehicle! to locate your vehicle if it was towed or call our Customer Care Centre at 306-975-2476. 

Service Alerts will be issued for any expected changes that may affect the sweep schedule, such as weather. Find more information at saskatoon.ca/sweep.