News Releases

Crews continue working around the clock to get everyone moving again, following a severe blizzard that brought high amounts of snowfall and strong winds, creating drifting on roads and sidewalks.

“Great gains are being made on restoring mobility in residential streets and we continue to bring on additional contractors for this work”, says Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Transportation and Construction. “Crews continue to work simultaneously throughout the entire City. We are focused on beginning with the streets worst affected and clearing residential streets in all neighborhoods. This will be done in a sequence where the streets carrying the most traffic, or strategically located streets are addressed first.”

As of Friday morning, the City reports residential street snow clearing is now complete in Kensington, Stonebridge, Eastview, Holiday Park and Brighton. Snow clearing is underway in an additional six neighbourhoods, including Dundonald, Rosewood, Hampton Village, Lakeridge, Arbor Creek and Evergreen. Today, work is scheduled to start in Wildwood, Buena Vista, Mayfair, Silverwood Heights, Erindale and Montgomery.

“With nearly 300 crew members clearing snow, and counting, this schedule may change, so we encourage you to keep checking online for updates,” says Schmidt. “As much as we can, we’re coordinating the clearing schedule with waste and recycling collections; however, there will be some instances they overlap. In those cases, crews will move bins onto driveways, then move them back onto the street.”

Schmidt also encourages children to stay away from playing in the snow piles. The huge accumulations of snow present a dangerous situation if climbing on the snow piles or building tunnels through them.

“Once again, thank you for helping your neighbours, remaining patient during the city-wide snow clean-up, and for staying safe around the snow removal equipment on our streets,” Schmidt adds. “Please remember that road conditions are still considered hazardous due to snow accumulation and the layer of ice underneath the snow. Our crews are sanding and salting to treat ice as snow is being cleared from roads.”

There may be piles of snow left by the graders (windrows); crews will come back afterwards to remove those that are impacting residents.

Please do not push snow out onto the street when clearing snow from sidewalks and driveways, as this can clog up streets with even more snow and continue to create accessibility issues.

More information on our process for snow clearing can be found at saskatoon.ca/snow

The election office has announced another eastside polling location at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Silverspring. This brings the total number of locations to seven for voters to cast their ballot on the postponed election day, Friday, November 13.

Revised: Voters can attend ANY of the SEVEN polling locations tomorrow until 8:00 p.m.: Cosmo Civic Centre, Lawson Civic Centre, Lakewood Civic Centre, Shaw Centre, City Hall, Prairieland Park and Ebenezer Baptist Church. Voter Assistance Terminal (VAT) is available at City Hall and support persons and service animals are welcome at all locations. Election workers will assist voters with mobility issues when requested. 

Voters should anticipate wait times similar to advance polls, due to physical distancing measures, hand sanitizing, one-way/dedicated entrances and exits and additional cleaning protocols. Polls are expected to be busy; election workers will be dedicated to keeping lineups moving along with all safety protocols in place.

Mail-in ballots will be received by election officials until 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 13 at City Hall or the Election Office (226 Cardinal Crescent). Mail-in ballots can also be dropped off at any polling location on Election Day. Visit saskatoon.ca/mailballot for more information.

Election Day Reminders:

• attend any polling location between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
• print and fill out a voter registration form to save time at the polling location
• bring your own pen to mark your ballot
• wear a mask and practice physical distancing

For more information on the 2020 Civic Election, including locations and ID requirements, visit saskatoon.ca/vote2020.

Following the postponement of November 9 election day, due to a severe winter storm that blanketed the city with 30 to 40 cm of snow and ice, the election office has announced an additional polling location at Prairieland Park and continues to pursue other options.

“Our goal through the election planning process is to provide citizens with access to a ballot – that they have a way to vote,” says Returning Officer Scott Bastian. “Access to the ability to vote in this election has been solidly supported through additional advance poll locations, a heavily used mail-in ballot program, and 65 polling locations on election day which despite the inclement weather were surprisingly steady.” 

The decision to postpone the election was granted to the Returning Officer alone by the Minister of Government Relations. As a result, the election office was working with the province all afternoon on Monday, November 9 to make sure the Returning Officer’s decision was in line with the Minister’s specific order.

“An election in a city of our size is complex. There are many moving parts, with over 600 municipal election workers hired and 65 polling locations established,” Bastian says. “Frustrating as it was for everyone, my decision was delayed to late Monday because I needed to make sure that the plan for Friday to condense polls complied with the Minister’s Order and that all the pieces were organized. In order to comply with Ministerial Order polls had to close early. Had polls closed at 8:00 pm on November 9, the election would have concluded that night.”

Voters who have not yet had the chance will have an opportunity to cast their ballot on Friday, November 13 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

There will be a number of locations across the city, much like advanced polls, at Cosmo Civic Centre, Lawson Civic Centre, Lakewood Civic Centre, Shaw Centre, and City Hall – with Prairieland Park as an added location. Voters can visit the polling station most convenient for them to cast their ballot.

Mail-in ballots will be received by the election officials until 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 13 at City Hall or the Election Office. Ballots can also be dropped off at any polling station on Election Day. Visit saskatoon.ca/mailballot for more information.

Reminders for voters:

• attend any poll location
• print and fill out a voter registration form to save time at the polling station
• bring your own pen to mark your ballot
• wear a mask and practice physical distancing

For more information on the 2020 Civic Election, including locations and ID requirements, visit saskatoon.ca/vote2020.