News Releases

​Today, 19 high school students will successfully graduate from the FIRE Cadet Program. Each of these students has demonstrated responsibility, respect, teamwork, community involvement, pride, and leadership to get to this point.

The FIRE Cadet Program is supported by the Saskatoon Public Schools and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, and is part of the Career Education Program at Bedford Road Collegiate, Mount Royal Collegiate, Tommy Douglas Collegiate, E.D. Feehan Catholic High School, Bethlehem Catholic High School, Bishop James Mahoney Catholic High School, and Holy Cross Catholic High School. Students from these schools applied to be a part of the program and were selected after an interview process.

“The FIRE Cadets have displayed impressive levels of teamwork and growth throughout their time with the Saskatoon Fire Department. The students came from a diverse set of backgrounds and interests, but quickly developed a sense of comradery. It’s a unique and rewarding experience to help lead these students and watch them work together to achieve various tasks and challenges” said Holly Lindberg, one of the firefighters leading the program.

Throughout the eight week program cadets learned to operate fire hoses, hydrants, fire trucks, and an aerial. They gained technical rope, ladder, extrication, dangerous goods, firefighter self-rescue, and water rescue skills. Cadets also received the CPR Level C and valuable experience giving fire safety presentations.

Brandon Bishop with the Saskatoon Fire Department states, “The support we have received from our community has been instrumental in the success of our students and the program. Don Flaman from Flaman Sales provided us with a trailer for the entire length of the program, SGI provided us with cars to allow our students to practice their extrication skills, and FFUN Motor Group provided the program with a van to shuttle the students to and from training sessions”.

Congratulations to each student who is graduating from the FIRE Cadet Program today!

On June 11, Administration will bring a series of recommendations around curbside waste management to the Environment, Utilities, and Corporate Services Committee of Council. Administration is recommending that a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) waste utility and city-wide organics program be launched together before the end of 2019.

“A successful waste diversion program, which includes more comprehensive organics and recycling programs, is critical to deferring the closure of the landfill,” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental and Corporate Initiatives. “It would cost an estimated 26 million dollars to close the existing landfill and 100 million dollars to establish a new one. We are excited and optimistic that so many of our engagement participants share our vision and are committed to diverting waste from our landfill.”

Additional details of the recommendation can be found in the June 11, 2018 report to Committee (Recommended Changes to Waste Management in Saskatoon) and include:

• that organics be collected in a single green cart for co-mingled food and yard waste;
• that waste utility fees be based on cart sizes (lower prices for smaller carts);
• and that no changes be made to the existing recycling program.

To help inform the recommendations, the City held a series of engagement activities between February 12 and March 6 as part of the Saskatoon Talks Trash campaign.  The primary purpose of community engagement was to ensure that changes to waste management in Saskatoon are feasible, desirable, and community-informed in their design and implementation. Residents and stakeholders were informed about city-wide organics and a variable-rate waste utility and were asked to provide feedback based on their preferences, value, and priorities. They were also invited to share ideas about recycling, depots, and other programs that could contribute to the City's goal of 70% waste diversion by 2023. 

"We're happy to report that over 5,000 residents participated in community engagement," Wallace says. "We heard you, Saskatoon! The input and ideas we received from our residents and stakeholders is invaluable, and was instrumental in helping to shape the recommendations being brought forward."

For more information regarding curbside engagement results and the recommendations being brought forward, visit: saskatoon.ca/engage/saskatoon-talks-trash-curbside

For more information on the City’s Waste Diversion Plan, visit: saskatoon.ca/wastediversion.

Community engagement with multi-unit (apartments and condos) residents and property managers is currently underway. The purpose of this engagement is to get valuable feedback and insights on organics, waste diversion, and existing services. Engagement with institutional, commercial, and industrial stakeholders will begin in fall 2018.

The federal government announced today that Saskatoon is a finalist for the federal government’s Smart Cities Challenge. 

The Smart Cities Challenge is a national competition that invites communities to implement bold ideas to address enduring challenges through innovation, data and connected technology. Saskatoon’s application has brought together a wide range of Indigenous, community, and institutional partners to focus on breaking the cycle of Indigenous youth incarceration. The application proposes to create a new cycle based on integrated and coordinated data and programs that build purpose, belonging, security and identity. 

“Through our engagement, our partners and residents have told us that Saskatchewan’s incarceration rates, and in particular Indigenous youth incarceration rates, are at a shameful level,” said Mayor Charlie Clark. “This has a price for all of us in our community and our country. We have an incredible group of partners, and most importantly, we will work directly with Indigenous youth so that this work remains grounded in lived experiences.”

By being selected as a finalist in this competition, the City of Saskatoon has been awarded a prize of $250,000 to more fully develop its proposal. The City will continue work with community partners to develop an innovative technology platform and coordinated programmatic system that will support youth to make choices that reduce the chances of incarceration. 

“We are beyond thrilled to have been selected to move on to the next phase in the Challenge,” says Lynne Lacroix, Director of Recreation and Community Development. “Saskatoon residents, institutions and businesses worked together to successfully and innovatively rise to the challenge, and we have now been given a genuine opportunity to put forward our final proposal that could lead to transformational change to the wellbeing of residents and overall quality of life in our city.”

The community and institutional partners include:

Central Urban Métis Federation Inc.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools

Saskatchewan Health Authority

Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology

Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Saskatoon Police Service

Saskatoon Public Schools

Saskatoon Tribal Council

United Way of Saskatoon and area

University of Saskatchewan

There will be additional partners included in this next phase.

The final proposals are due in the coming winter with the winners being announced in early 2019. The competition that Saskatoon has entered is for communities with a population of under 500,000 residents, and there are two prizes of $10 million available to be won in this category. 

Saskatoon Transit is piloting a new bus route that will improve access to many medical and health facilities throughout the city. Route 808 pilot will run on weekdays from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. starting June 1, 2018.

“Saskatoon Transit, along with the Saskatoon Council on Aging and the Saskatoon Health Authority, recognized a gap in our current network,” says Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit. “Access to some medical and health facilities on our existing routes sometimes requires our riders to walk long distances. We are running Route 808 as an attempt to make those buildings more accessible.”   

Route 808 will service the following facilities every 45 minutes:

• City Hall
• Saskatoon Housing Authority
• RUH / Cancer Centre
• Field House (front door)
• Luther Tower
• Ronald McDonald House
• City Hospital
• Medical Arts Building

Route 808 will provide Access Transit customers with an alternative transportation option to attend medical appointments.

If the pilot route is determined successful based on customer feedback, it may become permanent. Customers will be able to use the Transit mobile app to plan their trip and view the route map and times at SaskatoonTransit.ca/route-and-schedules. 

Saskatoon Strides - 2017 Report on Service, Savings and Sustainability highlights the progress the City continues to make to drive service improvements, savings for taxpayers, and sustainability initiatives throughout many accomplishments in 2017.

“This report highlights the many ways we’ve worked together to build an ongoing culture of innovation and creativity,” says Kim Matheson, Director of Employee Experience and Performance.  “We empower our staff to take on new challenges, try new strategies and come up with new ways to meet the changing needs of our community, and that results in making strides in the right direction.”   

2017 Report on Service, Savings and Sustainability highlights:

• Identified savings, additional funding, and revenues total over $30 million in 2017, which included over $4.5 million in operational efficiencies and additional revenue
• Saskatoon Land  delivered over $25 million in total financial returns for 2017
• $1.45 million identified through internal process and civic service reviews
• The City applied for Federal and Provincial Infrastructure Grants and received funding approval for $431,000
• A number of continuous improvement initiatives in Information Technology resulted in over $800,000 savings identified in 2017
• In 2017, to continue to grow the city in a sustainable way, civic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions were reduced by approximately 48,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) a year, the equivalent of taking over 10,300 cars off our roads
• Civic programs diverted approximately 27,900 tonnes of waste from the Saskatoon Landfill, contributing to reduced GHG emissions reductions and extending the life of the landfill

“We are very proud of our positive, productive, and innovative organizational culture, it empowers our employees, our teams, to build a better city,” adds Matheson.

Along with highlights of the many initiatives in 2017 that made a positive impact and realized improvements in City services, savings, and sustainability, are numerous awards and recognition, and a wide variety of kudos received by the City from residents.

Find the full report and details on the financial savings and project initiatives on the City's website. The Strides report was presented to City Council on May 28, 2018.