News Releases

Saskatoon is a national leader in health performance and competitive tax rates say two separate economic think-tanks.

“The combination of our quality of life and our economic competitiveness is what makes us strong as a city,” says His Worship the Mayor Charlie Clark. “This is a great foundation for ensuring we continue to be a resilient city into the future, where everyone has an opportunity to share in the prosperity and good health reflected in these reports.”   

Among ten major Canadian Cities, the Conference Board of Canada ranks Saskatoon first overall in city health.  Saskatoon finishes in first place because it scores highest in life satisfaction and receives high marks for healthy people with healthy lifestyles.

Saskatoon also has the most competitive tax rates among the major Canadian cites. The C.D. Howe Institute today released figures which show Saskatoon has the best business tax environment.

“Results like these are exactly what we’ve worked toward for many years,” says City Manager Murray Totland. “Our attention to City Council’s Strategic Goals such as Quality of Life and Economic Diversity and Prosperity lead to a community with good jobs, schools, health care and people – it’s what makes Saskatoon a great place to live.”

More on the Conference Board of Canada City Health Monitor can be found here.

Follow this link to get more information about the C.D. Howe Institute’s 2016 Report Card on Business Tax Burdens in Canada’s Major Cities. 

City contractors are not wasting any time getting started on two major interchange projects. Just days after being awarded the $57 million project, PCL Construction Management Inc. contractors will begin preliminary work on the two locations.

“We’re very pleased to see that PCL is starting its preparation work,” says Celene Anger, Director, Construction and Design. “In our experience, we have success when the contractor takes advantage of every opportunity to stay on time – or even move ahead of schedule.”

Starting today, PCL will begin geotechnical investigations at both the College Drive/McOrmond Drive and Boychuk Drive/Highway 16 locations. A drill rig will be used to take fourteen bulk samples of in-situ soils, which will provide information such as groundwater pressure, moisture content and other important data points.

Work is estimated to last about five days between the two locations and is not expected to have any lane restrictions or require any detours in the areas. A construction work zone with reduced speed limits will be established in the immediate vicinity of the workers in the interest of worker and public safety.

“This is the very first step in what will be one of the largest combined roadway projects the City has ever done,” Anger says. “These interchanges are going to provide significant traffic improvements for citizens and how they move around our city – but it’s going to take a lot of work getting there. Our commitment to citizens is to keep the lines of communications open, and provide regular updates on the project, so that you have time to plan around the work and help keep your delays as short as possible.”

The City is committed to keeping everyone up to date on the status of the projects, including regular website updates and emails to interested stakeholders. To receive these email updates, subscribe through the city website at saskatoon.ca/interchanges.

For road rehabilitation progress maps and more information on city-wide road rehabilitation work, please visit saskatoon.ca/betterroads. 

The City and the Transit Union have reached a tentative agreement and the union’s membership will be voting on this next week.  

City Council approval is required to finalize a contact. If the union membership accepts the offer and it can go to City Council for approval.

Job action will continue until the agreement has been ratified. Saskatoon Transit will continue to keep customers informed by issuing service alerts when made aware of any disruptions or delays. Service alerts can be viewed at saskatoontransit.ca, saskatoon.ca, on Twitter at @stoontransit or @YXEserviceAlert, through Transit App and in Google Transit.

We encourage transit customers to continue to plan your commute in advance and give yourself extra time since we are experiencing higher volumes of passengers per bus, delays and cancellations.

Individuals who do not have access to the internet can call the Transit Customer Service line at 306-975-3100 but are reminded that wait times may be longer than normal due to job action or higher than normal call volumes.

Access Transit is an essential service, and will continue operating as normal.

The City thanks our citizens, transit customers and our transit employees for their patience and understanding. 

The Court of Queen’s Bench says the Labour Relations Board must give the Transit Union another chance to make its case regarding compensation for the final two weeks of the 2014 Transit lockout.

“I think it’s fair to say we are a bit discouraged with the decision,” says Catherine Gryba, Corporate Performance General Manager.  “So, again, this might mean there will be more legal wrangling when we are hoping to conclude a collective agreement with the Transit Union.”

After the Transit Union asked the Court to review the matter, the decision was released today.  The decision simply means that the Labour Relations Board has to have another look at whether the union deserves pay for the final two weeks of the lockout.

“We will have to weigh all the options including an appeal,” Gryba says.  “While we consider the next steps though, I want to remind everyone our ten per cent wage offer is about being equal to all City workers in an increasingly more difficult economic climate.

“If the Transit union wants more, there are only two sources where dollars would have to come from: taxpayers and bus riders, both of whom already pay their fair share.”

Gryba says for the sake of all City employees – including transit workers – and for the sake of protecting the public purse, there can be no compromise on the pension changes and the sustainability plan for the pension. 

The City has to make sure wages and pension benefits are not an unreasonable burden to taxpayers.

For facts on Transit contract negotiations, visit saskatoon.ca/factsontransit.

The December 7, 2016 notifynow TEST message sent by the City of Saskatoon’s Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) was a success based on the feedback from residents and the system data generated. Fewer residents called back to ask questions about what the TEST was about. This indicates that residents are becoming much more familiar with the notifynow messaging system, and that they know they can customize how they prefer to receive important safety messages from notifynow. 

“Most residents that called in after yesterday’s TEST message wanted to learn more about how to log in and how to customize their notifynow profile, they wanted to tell us how they’d best like to be contacted,” says Deb Davies, Emergency Measures Coordinator. “Residents are recognizing that in the event of a wide scale emergency or one affecting only their neighbourhood, they might prefer a text message, and an email in addition to receiving a notifynow message to their land line. Or maybe they want to make sure their children receive a text message. That’s what great about this system, people can tell notifynow how best to contact them, and they can sign-up communication device preferences for their family members too.”

To date, 20, 072 residents have signed up with notifynow to indicate their preferred communication method, how they want to be contacted by notifynow so they’ll know what to do, where to go, and what to expect in an impending, escalating, or even immediately occurring emergency situation in Saskatoon. This is an increase of 5,412 residents since the last notifynow TEST held May 5, 2016. With the twice-yearly testing of the notifynow system, and by creating ongoing awareness for the notifynow system, the City and the Emergency Measures Organization hope to continue to grow this number.

“One of the goals for our semi-annual notifynow testing is to familiarize residents with what a notifynow message will sound like, and how it will be displayed on their phones or on the preferred method of communication they’ve let us know about by signing up,” says Davies. “Testing also helps residents know that a timely and targeted notifynow message is legitimate - and should be trusted.”

The EMO continues to encourage everyone in Saskatoon to sign up for notifynow. Persons with publicly listed phone numbers are automatically included in the notifynow database. However, if you would like to receive your notifynow message notifications for more than one address, like your child’s school or parent’s residence, or if you would like to customize the way you receive notifications via email, cell phone or text message, then you need to sign up and provide that information.

notifynow should play a very important component in everyone’s emergency preparedness plan. The ability to receive timely emergency communications is critical to persons with hearing or speech difficulties. To receive accessible notifynow messages, sign-up and enter up to two different TTY electronic device methods for text communication via telephone.

The notifynow emergency notification system supports the City of Saskatoon’s Strategic Goals of Continuous Improvement and Quality of Life; we leverage technology to serve and connect with citizens, and keep health and safety a top priority in all that we do.

To sign-up for notifynow and to tell us how to best to reach you with timely, targeted and trusted notifynow messages in an emergency situation, visit saskatoon.ca/notifynow or call 306-975-3210 for more information.