News Releases

The City will start removing snow from residential streets beginning tomorrow (Dec. 2), beginning in the Haultain, Queen Elizabeth, and Lawson Heights neighbourhoods. This neighbourhood clean-up is in response to the severe snow accumulation in November that left many residential streets impassable. 

“Removing the large piles of snow from residential streets is going to improve our ability to safely navigate our neighbourhoods again,” says Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Transportation & Construction. “We’ll all be happy to say good-bye those large piles of snow interfering in our sight lines and the availability of on-street parking in front of our homes. We also want to get as many of those obstructive piles of snow off sidewalks as we can—though this may take more time.”

Given the number of streets to cover across 66 city-wide residential neighbourhoods, the City is not attempting to achieve the same bare pavement conditions that we see on higher traffic priority streets. The end result in neighbourhoods will resemble a completed school zone with some non-hazardous snow piles remaining.

Since the snow accumulation is presenting safety and mobility challenges in all neighbourhoods, the order in which crews visit neighbourhoods is being determined at random and then balanced by ward to ensure progress is taking place equally across the city. A preliminary schedule will be posted to saskatoon.ca/snow in the coming days. As the first few neighbourhoods are completed, the City will be able to better estimate a schedule for the remaining neighbourhoods – please check the webpage for updates.

Residents will know when crews are coming to their neighbourhood when they see ‘No Parking’ signs go up along their street. The goal is to have these installed about 24 hours before the start of work. Similar to street sweeping, residents will need to move their vehicle off the street in advance of snow operations or their vehicle will be towed. This is to give equipment room to operate as well as to ensure the best result.

Other ways residents can help:

• Steer clear of crews and equipment while work is underway.
• Keep kids off snow piles and from building tunnels through snow piles; the piles can collapse, and the weight of that snow could be very dangerous.
• Remove any rubber driveway/curb ramps before removal on your street.  

This neighbourhood clean-up is in response to the severe snow accumulation in November that left many residential streets impassable for several days. Neighbourhood snow management is not part of our city's standard operations. Existing levels of service for winter maintenance will apply to future snow events. In neighbourhoods, this means City snow crews are sent to local roads when ice rutting impedes mobility (reaches 6” in depth).​  

The City has recently been informed that an employee working across three Leisure Centres (Lakewood Civic Centre, Saskatoon Field House, Shaw Centre) has tested positive for COVID-19. 

Due to the need to protect the privacy of the individual, the City cannot provide further details about the positive case. However, the positive case is unlikely to be linked to transmission within the workplace.

We understand this may cause concern for customers at these facilities and reinforce that the City has implemented many health and safety protocols and precautions to protect both employees and the public. This includes mandatory masks for employees and the public, proper hygiene, safety signage and markers, and acrylic barriers for some staff. This situation stresses the importance of the layers of protection the City has put in place to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in civic facilities.

Below are the affected facilities and time periods. If you were at any of these facilities during the time periods, it is always a good idea to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and stay home and call HealthLine 811 to arrange for testing if symptoms occur. 

As part of our already enhanced cleaning protocols, cleaning and disinfecting have taken place in all impacted facilities and areas since the positive case was identified.

It is our understanding that the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will be following up and contacting individuals identified as close contacts as per their contact tracing process and providing information to them on the next steps. The City will support SHA in their contact tracing process as necessary. 

The City also has processes in place so supervisors can be aware of which employees need to be sent home if necessary or contact Health Line at 811 for further instruction. 

This positive case reminds us that we all have a shared responsibility to limit the transmission risk of COVID-19 in our community. Stay home if you are feeling unwell, follow all Public Health Orders and take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and others.

City Council is set to debate, adjust and finalize the City’s 2022/2023 Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget starting Monday, November 29 to Wednesday, December 1, 1:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

View the full 2022/2023 Preliminary Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget AGENDA

This year, the City Council budget review will be held virtually. The public can view the budget deliberations via live stream beginning at 1:00 p.m. each day.  Submissions providing comments and/or requesting to speak will be accepted using the online form at saskatoon.ca/write-letter-councilcommittees. If your submission includes a request to speak, you will be contacted by a representative from the City Clerk’s Office with further information. 

City Council’s Budget Review is set for three days and is treated as one continuous meeting. The deadline for receipt of public submissions to provide comments and /or request to speak is 10:00 a.m. Monday, November 29. Contact the City Clerks Office at 306-975-3240 with any questions regarding this process.

Visit saskatoon.ca/budget to review the full suite of 2022/2023 preliminary budget-related documents, including the Administrative Reports City Council will receive on November 29.