News Releases

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.

• When the Provincial Public Health Order on masks is lifted as of February 28 at 12:01 a.m., masks will continue to be required to access indoor City-operated facilities and services and when travelling on Saskatoon Transit. Facilities include 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. City Council approved the action at its special meeting on February 8, 2022 to ensure the safety of staff and the public who are accessing City services. This will be continually reassessed.
• Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative Test is no longer required when attending City-operated facilities.

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

Mild temperatures over the past couple of days are creating deep ruts on some residential streets. City and contractor crews are shifting their focus to shaving down the deep ruts where people are getting stuck or there’s a risk of damage to vehicles.

Beginning this evening, graders will start to shave the top layers of ruts on residential streets with severe rutting and store the snow in the parking lane. Snow removal may only occur in areas where there is no room to store the snow.

“To open up these streets quickly for residents, we need to move fast,” says Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Construction and Transportation. “Colder temperatures are coming soon which will make grading harder for us.”

Grading will be done by neighbourhood starting on the streets where the ruts are at least 15 centimetres deep, making it challenging for smaller vehicles. We will go around parked cars but encourage people to move vehicles if there is off-street parking available.

On streets with heavy on-street parking that are too narrow for our equipment, we will post No Parking signs in advance and relocate vehicles left on the street.

The work will occur day and night and we hope to complete all severely rutted streets within the next two weeks. This may be extended if there is a snow event that requires some staff to address priority street grading.

While grader operators attempt to keep driveways unobstructed, short snow ridges may be left behind. The location may be inspected for clearing if it completely blocks a vehicle from accessing the driveway.

Starting tomorrow, regular updates will be provided on saskatoon.ca/snow with neighbourhood locations. Note that grading will accommodate garbage and recycling collection schedules. Thank you for your patience and leaving space for our operators and equipment to safely do their work.

At a Special Meeting of City Council this morning, Council approved a number of resolutions to guide the City’s response to COVID-19 in the community and continue to protect the health and safety of residents, customers and employees once provincial Public Health Orders are lifted later this month.  

Council approved the removal of Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative Test Requirements for City of Saskatoon facilities when the Government of Saskatchewan rescinds the “Public Health Order Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative Test”, effective Monday, February 14.

Council unanimously recommitted to keeping in place the requirement that all residents and visitors accessing all City facilities, including when travelling on Saskatoon Transit, wear a mask upon the rescission of the existing “Public Health Order Mandatory Isolation and Face Covering” by the provincial government, which is anticipated to occur at the end of February.

Council also directed that Administration continue to provide masks for patrons of Saskatoon Transit, and report back on ways to increase enforcement or conflict resolution support on Transit in regards to the use of masks before the end of the month.  

Further, Council has requested that the Administration provide a report to Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) on a monthly basis, starting in March 2022, providing a written COVID update that includes a recommendation on whether to continue the requirement of masking for all persons accessing all City facilities.

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

Diverting edible items from the landfill to improve food security is an easy cause to support. Removing the barriers to make it happen, however, can be complicated.

A new joint study by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) and the City of Saskatoon, Promising Practices in Food Reclamation in Saskatoon, found ways to minimize the food being discarded.

The project took place through Research Junction, an innovative partnership between the city and the university. Research Junction awards funding to projects that apply advanced research methods to address current issues in Saskatoon.

Rachel Engler-Stringer of USask’s Community-University Institute for Social Research was a lead researcher on the project.

The team performed a survey of best practices in food diversion, and gathered information from a wide variety of stakeholders, including food retailers and organizations on the front lines of providing food to clients in Saskatoon.

Once they understood the logistical and infrastructure barriers to diverting food, researchers developed recommendations to address this widespread issue. It is estimated one-third of the food produced worldwide and 30-40 percent of all food produced in Canada annually is wasted or lost.

“We tried to make it very practical,” said Engler-Stringer, who is also associate professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at USask’s College of Medicine. “I hope that a number of our recommendations will be taken up and there will be significant change in Saskatoon.”

In particular, she would like to see a food recovery association created in partnership with governments, as well as a social enterprise established to “upcycle” or transform surplus food for other uses.

Farhad Lashgarara, who was a principal researcher for the study, said it is necessary to both create ways to divert food from landfills and provide disincentives for simply discarding it.

“It is now easier to just throw things away,” he said. “We need to change that equation.”

Other recommendations include a public awareness campaign, the use of phone food diversion apps, and inclusion of food diversion in city planning processes.

This initiative aligns with Saskatoon’s Solid Waste Reduction and Diversion Plan that provides clear actions the city can take to produce less waste and recycle and compost most of it. The report was presented to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on Monday, February 7, 2022.

“With these two strategies coordinated, the city is looking toward the next steps to act on their recommendations,” said Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability for the City of Saskatoon. “The upcoming regulation for businesses to start diverting the food waste they generate in 2023 presents an opportunity to encourage reduction and redistribution of food that otherwise would become waste, thus saving disposal costs while benefiting our community and environment.”

The full report can be found here: https://cuisr.usask.ca/publications.php

With the Government of Saskatchewan’s message that the Public Health Orders will soon be lifted, the City is taking steps to ensure the safety of its staff and the public who are accessing City services. The recommendations are outlined in a report for Special Meeting of City Council tomorrow, February 8.

“The lifting of the Public Health Orders does not mean there is no longer a risk of COVID-19 in Saskatoon, but it shifts the responsibility for management of this risk from the Provincial Government to individuals, businesses, organizations, and municipalities,” says Pamela Goulden-McLeod, Director of Emergency Management Organization. 

Once the Provincial Public Health Orders are lifted, the City will return to following Occupational Health and Safety and business continuity processes in managing the response to COVID-19 in our community.

The City will also continue to seek guidance from the Saskatchewan Health Authority local Medical Health Officers and to monitor the Saskatchewan Health Authority assessed risk of epidemic transmission. The assessed risk of epidemic transmission is currently indicating there is a “high likelihood that COVID transmission is not controlled” in the Saskatoon region. This is the highest level of risk of transmission.

The report outlines recommendations for requirements related to the Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative Test and masking in civic facilities and when travelling on Saskatoon Transit and would take effect when the Government of Saskatchewan rescinds the corresponding Public Health Orders.

Recommendations

1. That City Council remove Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative Test Requirements for City of Saskatoon facilities.
2. That City Council continue the requirement that all persons accessing all City facilities, not including Saskatoon Transit, wear a face mask. For Saskatoon Transit, masks would be recommended but not required.

Measures that may remain in place include enhanced cleaning, physical distancing, and the requirement not to enter City owned facilities if an individual has symptoms of COVID-19.

“The City will continue its focus on educating and informing the public rather than enforcing the use of face masks within City owned facilities and services,” Goulden-McLeod says.

The City Administration also recommends that a monthly report goes to Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) starting in March 2022, with a written COVID update that includes a recommendation on whether to continue the requirement of masking for all persons accessing all City facilities.

It is important to note that this requirement does not apply to any public members directly accessing the Saskatoon Public Library locations located within Leisure Centres. Libraries do not require the public to show proof of vaccination or negative test to enter their facilities under the current Public Health Order.

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