News Releases

The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo released an exciting new video ‘Caring for Cougars’ following a recent health check on cougars Malcolm and Jethro.  

“Our mandate is to focus on conservation, research, and education” says Tim Sinclair-Smith, Zoo Manager.  “This video provides an opportunity for people to learn more about what goes on when a captive animal visits the vet.  It demonstrates that our facility emphasizes the importance of quality health programs and does more than simply display animals.”

The Zoo has a longstanding partnership with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine focusing on animal health at the facility.  Sinclair-Smith says there are many benefits to highlighting the educational aspects of the animal health program:

• Veterinary students have the opportunity to learn wild animal care skills; and
• It shows school students the detailed, in-depth nature of a wild animal physical exam.

Cougars Malcolm and Jethro came to the Zoo in 2009 and are currently taking up residence in the PotashCorp Ark exhibit.  Cougars are best known for their agility and long powerful bodies.  Their long hind legs allow them to hunt in high speed bursts and are known to use their long tails to steer as they run.

The ‘Caring for Cougars video’ is showcased on the City’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook pages.  It is also highlighted on saskatoon.ca/zoo and will be played in the Children’s Zoo and Discovery Centre as part of a public education initiative.  

Zoo Hours
Reminder:  the Zoo will be switching to winter hours on Tuesday, September 5, 2017.

• Forestry Farm Park gates will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• The Zoo will be open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Parking fees will not be charged effective on September 5.  

As a new school year is set to get underway, the City of Saskatoon and Saskatoon Police Service are advising residents that school zones are in effect beginning September 1^st, 2017. Drivers are once again required to reduce their speed to 30 kph inside school zones between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

This fall, four new school zones will be in effect in the following areas:

1. Stonebridge: Chief Whitecap School & St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic School
2. Hampton Village: Ernest Lindner School & St. Lorenzo Ruiz Catholic School
3. Evergreen: Sylvia Fedoruk School & St. Nicholas Catholic School
4. Rosewood: Colette Bourgonje & St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic School

“We’ve installed one continuous school zone in front of the adjacent public and separate schools in these neighbourhoods to provide a safe path for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers,” says Dave LeBoutillier, Acting Engineering Manager for Transportation. “All it takes to reduce your speed in a school zone is an additional 12 seconds of travel time; something we can all make time to do.”

School zones are marked by reflective, fluorescent yellow-green signs. It is an offence to speed in school zones as well as to make a u-turn, which has been restricted in Saskatoon since 2013. Offenders are subject to fines and the loss of three or more SGI demerit points.

“When drivers fail to comply with speed limits in school zones, they’re not only committing a speed violation, they are increasing the danger to students, parents, teachers and citizens using those school zones,” says Superintendent Brian Shalovelo of the Saskatoon Police Service. “We’ll be actively enforcing school zones from now through to June.”

In addition to physical police presence in school zones, Photo Speed Enforcement is also active in several school zones around the city. This program captures an image and licence plate information for vehicles violating the 30 kph speed restriction, and a fine is then mailed to the registered owner of that vehicle.

Learn more about school zones by visiting Saskatoon.ca/SchoolZones.

Saskatoon Transit wants people to nominate bus stops for improvements or replacement with help of Twitter and Facebook.

The “Bus Stop Blues” Campaign kicks-off today on Saskatoon Transit Twitter, City of Saskatoon Twitter and the City of Saskatoon’s Facebook page.  Over the next three weeks, using the hashtag #busstopbluesyxe, residents will be asked to post a photo and the location of the stop where they would like to see improvements. 

“Saskatoon Transit is listening and reacting to customer feedback,” says Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit.  “This is an opportunity to engage with the public and for the public to help shape the future of Saskatoon Transit.  Our goal is to continually improve the transit experience.”

Following the campaign, bus shelters and stops will be chosen for either replacement or renewal.

The Government of Canada has provided more than $1.5 million through the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) for transit shelter improvements and network accessibility throughout the city - $300,000 will be devoted to the bus shelter and stop improvements.  

Saskatoon Transit values input from citizens and these bus shelter upgrades will work toward the principals outlined in the Growth Plan to 500,000.  

For more information about Saskatoon Transit, visit transit.saskatoon.ca or follow @StoonTransit on Twitter. Plan your route in advance using Google Transit Trip Planner or the Transit App on your mobile device.

With City Council’s approval this week, the City will move forward with developing options to expand the Waste Services Utility. Moving black-bin collection to a user-pay system would reduce property taxes by $8.9 million -- about 4%.  Put another way, this would transfer the cost of some or all waste management services to a monthly utility bill. The City will meet with residents in the fall and report back to Council in early 2018.

“We know this is an important initiative and we want to get it right,” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental and Corporate Initiatives. “Residents have many concerns like affordability and increased illegal dumping. So, to hear what people think, we’re going to launch a series of community discussions this fall and gather input on the design of an expanded Waste Services Utility.”  

One option to be explored is a variable-rate utility/user-pay system which offers a number of benefits:

• Creates incentives to reduce the amount of waste residents put in their black garbage cart.
• Allows the City to build a sustainable funding model.
• Extends the life of the landfill.

Wallace stresses the variable fee-for service garbage collection model includes charges based on cart size or collection frequency, not weight.

“Research conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2013 discovered waste utility models can improve waste diversion rates by up to 40 per cent,” Wallace says. “A successful waste diversion program is critical to deferring the closure of the landfill.”

Wallace adds the costs to close the existing landfill and establish a new landfill are estimated at $26 million and $100 million respectively.

The community has set a target of diverting 70% of our waste from the landfill. This means that 70% of waste in Saskatoon will be reused, recycled or composted. In 2016, 22% of waste was being diverted through programs such as the single and multi-unit residential recycling programs. This is the second lowest diversion rate when benchmarked against other Canadian cities.

More information on the City’s Waste Diversion Plan can be found on saskatoon.ca/wastediversion.  

This expansion of the waste services utility supports the Strategic Goal of Environmental Leadership including the four-year priority to promote and facilitate city-wide composting and recycling and the long-term strategy to eliminate the need for a new landfill; It also supports the Strategic Goal of Asset and Financial Sustainability by reducing reliance on residential property taxes and setting long term sustainable rates.

Mayor Charlie Clark finds the ongoing search for financial savings at City Hall encouraging, but he knows that there is work left to do.

“Through conversations, emails, social media messages, and phone calls, I am continuing to hear from citizens that they are concerned about potential tax increases and the financial situation of the City of Saskatoon,” said Mayor Clark. “The people of Saskatoon are expecting us to make sure that their tax dollars are spent wisely and with the largest impact possible.”

The Mayor explained that it is important to find savings in ways that create efficiencies and deliver services more effectively.

“City Council recognizes that citizens want to see the City save money in ways that don’t simply cut services or raise fees for residents,” Mayor Clark said. “Today I am pleased to highlight key examples of how we have done this over the past few years.”

For more than a decade, the City has explored and implemented new ways to improve services and increase savings, while also managing the growth pressures the City faces. The recently released Saskatoon Strides: 2016 Report on Service, Savings and Sustainability highlights the progress the City made to drive service improvements, find savings for taxpayers, and operate more sustainably.

“Sometimes these examples get lost in the mix and we wanted to call attention to them today,” said Mayor Clark. “In addition to the savings featured in the Saskatoon Strides document, the recent 30 Day Challenge empowered staff to suggest avenues for increased savings, and many of the recommendations are around energy efficiencies, using technology more effectively, and cutting internal red tape.”

Mayor Clark reiterated that the City is heading in the right direction to deliver affordable and sustainable programs and services that improve the quality of life for citizens. “Given the City’s recent reduction in funding, it is important that the work of finding cost savings continues. It is also a priority of mine to get the basics right, and I believe that this is what the citizens of Saskatoon expect and deserve from the City.”