News Releases

For the 14^th consecutive year, the City of Saskatoon has won the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting (CAnFR) from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

The CAnFR award, presented for the City’s 2020 Annual Report, represents a significant accomplishment for municipal government and its financial management. The award recognizes the City’s commitment to high standards and excellence in financial transparency and accountability.

“We are committed to financial transparency and openly communicating to the citizens of Saskatoon with full disclosure in our annual reporting,” says Kari Smith, Director of Finance. “We are proud to receive this award and proud of our employees who are dedicated to making the City of Saskatoon a leader in producing high-quality financial reports year after year.”

The City’s 2020 Annual Report has been judged by impartial Canadian Review Committee members to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” designed to clearly communicate the municipality’s financial story and to motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.   

The Canadian Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (CAnFR) was established to encourage municipal governments across Canada to publish high-quality financial reports and to provide peer recognition and technical guidance for officials preparing these reports.

Visit saskatoon.ca to view additional financial reports from the City of Saskatoon.

The vendor of the City’s current pay parking application (app), WayToPark, will be releasing a new app in June called Parkedin. Beginning July 1, Parkedin will officially replace WayToPark as the City’s app-based parking payment service.  

The Parkedin app will be available for public download and use starting June 1. Both WayToPark and Parkedin will be available in tandem during a transition period from June 1 to June 30, 2022.

The new Parkedin app will operate and function similar to the WayToPark app, with some additional features such as the ability to pay for parking by scanning a QR code on the nearest pay station as well as support for debit payments. 

“Our Parking Services team is looking forward to the implementation of the new app to provide an improved offering for customers and to ensure that there is no service disruption.” says Matt Grazier, Director of Community Standards. 

A report on proposed amendments to the Traffic Bylaw to facilitate usage of the new app will be presented to the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation on Monday, April 11. 
For more information on Pay Parking, visit saskatoon.ca/payparking.

The City of Saskatoon has released its 2021 preliminary year-end financials showing a $6.54 million deficit in the civic operating programs and a $12.25 million surplus in the utility programs, before year-end audit confirmation.

Although last year brought ongoing change and uncertainty, the City remained dedicated to the delivery of core services residents rely on while continuing to find corporate-wide savings and reduce overall spending. Through the saving strategy, the City reduced training budgets and carefully examined discretionary spending to help make up for reduced revenue and other budget pressures arising from the pandemic. Fuel savings also helped reduce the deficit.

Under provincial law, municipalities are not allowed to operate with a deficit. On April 12, 2022, the City Administration will present a report to the Standing Policy Committee on Finance (7.2.4) that sets out the City’s financial strategy to offset this deficit.

“The preliminary $6.54 million deficit represents a variance of just over one per cent from the City’s overall Civic Operating Budget of $546.6 million,” says Director of Finance, Kari Smith. “Our shortfall is largely the result of snow & ice removal costs resulting from the November 2020 blizzard, higher than anticipated Information Technology costs, and lower than budgeted operating revenues. I’m confident in the well-laid financial plan and strategy Administration is recommending to address the preliminary deficit, and importantly, it won’t impact our future service delivery to residents.”

The Administration is recommending the deficit of $6.54 million be funded by:

• $3.71 million from the reallocation of Canada Community Building Funds originally put into contingency for this specific purpose;
• $1.72 million through a one-time increase from the Water Utility Return on Investment (ROI); and
• $1.11 million to be transferred from the Fiscal Stabilization Reserve. 

“While the City has continued to face significant non-tax revenue challenges in user fees and our other forms of revenue have remained flat or decreased year over year, it is important to recognize that several of our businesses also achieved surpluses in 2022 including Saskatoon Light & Power and Saskatoon Water,” Smith says.

2021 Preliminary Year-end Yields Surplus Utility-Related Results

• Saskatoon Light & Power (SL&P) reported a surplus of $4.49 million. 
• Saskatoon Water reported a year-end surplus of $3.63 million. 
• Wastewater Utility reported a year-end surplus of $2.74 million.
• Storm Water Management Utility reported a year-end surplus of $345,485.
• Waste Services Utility reported a year-end surplus of $1.04 million.

In addition to the utility posted surpluses:

• the Police Board was under budget by $860,000, this is included in the preliminary year-end deficit.
• SaskTel Centre and TCU Place posted preliminary deficits of $3.96 million and $3.37 million respectively, to be balanced through contributions from their facility and capital reserves. 
• Remai Modern posted a preliminary surplus of $310,526.

The City’s Financial Position Remains Future Healthy

The City’s overall and future financial standing continues to be strong and sound, having its ‘AAA’/Stable credit rating reaffirmed by S&P Global in January 2022. In planning for a bright and sustainable future, the City is committed to finding year-over-year increased operational efficiencies, creating greater savings across the organization and recovering from the financial impact of COVID-19.

The external audit of the 2021 financial statements is expected to be completed in June 2022. Following the external audit, the audited financial statements will be presented to City Council for approval.  At that time, the year-end financial results will be confirmed or adjusted based on the recommendations of the external audit and presented in the 2021 Annual Report later this year.

City Council continues to guide the City of Saskatoon’s response to COVID-19 in the community to protect the health and safety of residents and customers, following the provincial government's previous decision to lift provincial Public Health Orders.

At its meeting today, City Council considered a monthly COVID-19 update on masking in City facilities and Saskatoon Transit. Council approved a transition from a mandatory to discretionary approach for masking in City facilities. As noted in the February 8, 2022 City Council resolution, the City extended the masking requirement in City facilities beyond the expiration of the Public Health Order as a temporary measure to help transition the community to a new COVID-19 environment.

As of Monday, April 4, people accessing City facilities, including City Hall, Leisure Centres, indoor arenas, golf course buildings, indoor spaces at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo and the downtown Saskatoon Transit Customer Service Centre are no longer required to wear a face mask. Masks are welcome and will be available upon request.

Masks will continue to be required when travelling on Saskatoon Transit vehicles. Mask education will continue with riders through signage and interior and exterior audible announcements on each bus. Masks will continue to be made available to Transit customers.

The Saskatoon Emergency Management Organization continues to monitor the COVID-19 impacts on City staff and services in accordance with the COVID-19 Response Levels. A monthly update will be presented at the next meeting of City Council in April.

For the latest updates, visit saskatoon.ca/covid-19. 

Canada Water Week (March 21-27, 2022) is a national celebration of water that is held annually to coincide with World Water Day on March 22.

“Saskatoon has a lot to celebrate and be proud of when it comes to our water,” says Pam Hamoline, Interim Director of Saskatoon Water. “Not only does our city have one of the highest quality water supplies in North America, but right now we have several projects in motion to ensure we continue to deliver a high quality and safe drinking water product.”

During Canada Water Week, the City is featuring some of those initiatives in a social media campaign, like the new McOrmond Drive Reservoir and Pump Station, Transfer Pumping and Electrical Upgrades project and Spadina Lift Station project, while also educating about our water source and how it gets into and out of our homes.

“Every day, we turn on our taps and flush our toilets without always thinking about where the water is coming from, how it reaches our homes and what happens to it when we’re done with it.”

The theme for World Water Day on Tuesday, March 22 is Groundwater. While Saskatoon’s drinking water is sourced from the South Saskatchewan River, Hamoline says protecting this important underground water resource is vital.

“What we as residents do above ground, matters underground. For example, we should be mindful of what we put on our lawns and gardens and what may be draining down the city’s storm sewers.”

Keep an eye on the City of Saskatoon’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram this week to learn more about Saskatoon’s water system, our groundwater resource, and some of the big water and waste water projects underway.

Construction of a dry storm pond to help reduce neighbourhood flooding during significant rain events is underway in Churchill Park. Work began in the park in February and the project will be completed in 2023.

“Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure will protect communities from extreme weather events such as floods,” says the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities. “The Churchill Park dry storm pond will help increase Saskatoon’s resilience in the face of increased occurrences of floods while providing a recreation area and preserving green space. Our Government will continue to work with our provincial and municipal partners to improve residents’ safety and build stronger communities."

“This is the second of nine planned projects under the Flood Control Strategy that was approved by City Council in 2018,” says Acting Director of Saskatoon Water, Pam Hamoline. “Once complete, it will reduce the flood risk for properties near the intersections of Ruth Street at Cairns Avenue and York Avenue, and Bute Street at Munroe Avenue and Albert Avenue.”

Dry storm ponds hold water that would otherwise cause flooding in intersections and nearby properties during intense rainfalls. The water flows into the pond instead, then slowly drains into the storm sewer system. Whenever dry, it is used as recreational or park space.

Flood Control Strategy (FCS) projects have been planned to reduce flooding in neighbourhoods that were established prior to 1989, when improved storm water infrastructure standards were established. The first FCS project in W.W. Ashley District Park was successfully completed in late 2021 and will fully open later this year.

The Government of Canada is contributing 40% of the eligible construction costs up to a maximum of $21.6 million toward the nine FCS projects. The City is funding the remaining construction costs through the Storm Water Utility Capital Program and revenue generated from Storm Water Utility charges.

For more information about the FCS program and future project locations, visit saskatoon.ca/floodplan.

Starting March 1, 2022, building, development and plumbing permits can be done completely online through the City of Saskatoon’s new ePermitting system. This new ePermitting system will let people apply for permits, track the progress of the application and even request inspections all digitally – reducing the need for in-person visits to City Hall and increasing transparency around the permitting process.

“The ePermitting system will allow the permitting process to become inherently digital,” says Kara Fagnou, Director of Building Standards. “It houses a vast library of pre-configured permit types to meet most business needs, includes email notifications that are automatically triggered and offers mobile capacity to support field inspection staff.”

Service Saskatoon and Building Standards staff will still be available via phone, or where needed, in person, but the ePermitting system will remove the need for most residents and businesses to travel to City Hall for permitting assistance.

“The launch of ePermitting is a key step for Building Standards toward its goal of being a national leader in permit turnaround times,” says Fagnou. “We are always looking for ways to streamline and improve our business processes. To support ePermitting, we have also streamlined our internal workflows and updated many of our procedures to help meet customers’ needs in the most efficient way possible.”

For more information, please visit saskatoon.ca/buildingstandards, or call 306.975.2645. Customers can register an account and login to the ePermitting system starting March 1 at saskatoon.ca/ePermitting.