News Releases

After more than 1,000 online votes, the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo (Zoo) is pleased to announce that the infant Goeldi monkey has been named Evy.

“We wanted to extend a huge thank you to everyone that participated in selecting the name Evy for the newest member of the Goeldi troop,” said Tim Sinclair-Smith, Zoo Manager.

Evy was selected by popular vote after the Zoo narrowed down the selection to four potential names, including Evy, Laka, Zoila, and Elena.

“The name couldn’t be more fitting for this wonderful little animal, and she is settling into it well,” says Sinclair-Smith.

Citizens can see Evy and her parents in the monkey enclosure at the Kinsmen Children’s Zoo exhibit year-round.  The Zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.  Additional information can be found online at saskatoon.ca/zoo.

Travel-planning website Expedia has named downtown Saskatoon as one of the “coolest” in North America.

“This recognition demonstrates the attention City Council pays to sustainable growth,” says Lesley Anderson, Director of Planning and Development.

“Our Urban Design program aims to keep the city core vibrant, help it attract people there and make it a great place to live, work and enjoy.”

Travel writer Kohleun Adamson highlights the list on the website’s travel blog Viewfinder which is based on, “…one-of-a-kind dining options, local arts venues, unique shopping experiences, fascinating historical sites, and access to urban greenspace.” 

Saskatoon shares company with cities such as: Boston, Massachusetts; Boca Raton, Florida; Pasadena, California and Cancun, Mexico.

The article and list of North America’s coolest downtowns can be found here.

This week's notifynow TEST message sent by the City of Saskatoon's Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) on Tuesday, May 9 was once again a success, based on feedback from residents and program delivery results.

“Residents that called in after the TEST message wanted to learn more about how to sign-up to customize their notifynow profile,” says Eron McCormick, Emergency Measures Coordinator. “In a city-wide or community emergency, you might prefer a text message - and an email in addition to receiving a voice message to your land line. Or maybe you want to make sure your children receive a text message. That’s what’s great about notifynow emergency notifications in Saskatoon. You can customize your profile, and tell us how to best to reach you - and your family members.”

To date, 21,213 residents have signed up to customize their preferred communication method. With the twice-yearly testing of the notifynow system, and by creating ongoing awareness for the program, the City and Emergency Measures Organization hope to continue to grow this number. The next TEST message will be sent in December of this year.

“Testing the system helps familiarize residents with what a notifynow message will sound like, and how it will be displayed on their phones or on the other preferred methods of communication they’ve let us know about by signing up,” says McCormick. “Test messages help residents realize that in the event of an emergency, they can trust receiving a timely and targeted notifynow message that tells them what to do, what to expect, or where to go.”

The EMO continues to encourage everyone to sign-up for notifynow. Make notifynow messages an important part of your personal emergency preparedness plan, and also for those you care about.

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.

Pothole work in Saskatoon neighbourhoods will be coordinated to start right after street sweeping work is complete.

“Pothole patching and utility cut repairs are year round activities for us,” says Brandon Harris, Director of Roadways and Operations.  “Now that neighbourhoods are being swept we are ramping up our road repair resources to follow the sweepers and repair roads when the streets are the cleanest.

With priority road pothole work wrapping up, crews are moving into neighbourhoods to complete pothole repairs that have been reported by city crews and on the City’s Report-A-Pothole interactive map.  Already 628 potholes have been reported using the interactive map.  Since the application was launched in 2014, over 10,000 people have logged on to use this application.

“It seems the community is really getting the hang of online reporting,” says Harris.  “The information we’re getting from everyone is very valuable, especially as we head into neighbourhoods.  We are able to make sure that larger repairs are planned for because residents are being so diligent about reporting potholes in their communities.  Planning work in advance improves our efficiency so we can get more repairs completed.”

The Neighbourhood Pothole Blitz starts with three days of filling the larger potholes that have the most impact on drivers and cyclists. After this work is done, crews coordinate with the neighbourhood sweeping schedule to focus on smaller potholes and utility cuts.

If you identify a gravel utility cut that has sunk and needs fill, or is rough to drive over, please inform our Customer Service Centre at 306-975-2476.  You can check the status of repairs online through our Utility Cuts and Repair Schedules map.
 

Neighbourhood street sweeping is scheduled to start this Monday, May 8, and one of the City’s target goals is to issue fewer parking tickets.

“Citizens want streets swept as soon as the snow is gone,” says Brandon Harris, Director of Roadways and Operations.  “We’ve been working on ways to speed up our process and that means working toward fewer parked vehicles on the road during street sweeping.”

Earlier this year, select priority roads received an early curb-to-curb sweep in April. With these streets now clean, residents can use them for on-street parking while residential areas are being swept.     

“We want to be in-and-out of your neighbourhood faster, more economically, with fewer tickets and vehicle relocations,” Harris says.  “We’ve freed up different roadways for parking, so when residents see those ‘No Parking’ signs, we encourage them to look to the clean priority streets for available parking spaces.” 

School zones are also part of the City’s improved approach to sweeping.  In the past, school zones were swept at night and were often not completed until much later in the year. By using a combination of city and private contractors, daytime school zone sweeping is now completed in a safe and controlled manner, at the same time as the residential sweeping.

With this approach, school zones are finished earlier in the year and with significant cost-savings.  Sweepers will avoid drop-off and pick-up times to minimize interaction with students and limit disruption to traffic.

City Council is investing more than $61 million this year to build better roads and sidewalks.  Efficient and effective street sweeping supports the City’s long-term goal for moving around, ensuring roads and streets are kept in good repair.  Cleaning our residential neighbourhoods not only looks better, it reduces dust, improves the safety of our roads and improves and reduces localized water pooling which can damage roads.

With the city’s Street Sweeping Spring Blitz well underway, workers will be shifting to neighbourhood street sweeping starting May 8.  Residents have a few different ways to find out when sweeping will take place in their neighbourhoods.

The familiar yellow No Parking signs will be posted on streets up to three days before sweeping starts. For more advance notice, the full Residential Street Sweeping schedule is on the city website at Saskatoon.ca/sweeping and on the interactive Street Sweeping Map.