News Releases

Negative interactions where an operator was directly impacted by a member of the public have decreased, shows a report being presented to City Council’s Standing Policy on Transportation on March 7. The report summarizes incidents on buses and around Transit facilities.  

Negative interactions overall impacting operators are down by approximately 50% in 2022 when compared to the years prior; however, negative interactions between transit passengers and members of the public at transit stops and terminals trend up year over year.  

The most common negative attributes associated with interactions impacting operators are verbal altercations, intoxication, and acts of aggression. The most common negative attributes associated with passenger and public interactions are intoxication and verbal altercations. That said, Mike Moellenbeck, Operations Manager for Saskatoon Transit stresses, all such incidents remain rare. 

“While we take all negative interactions and assaults impacting operators very seriously, thankfully they remain very rare. There are about two operator assault incidents for every one million rides,” says Moellenbeck. 

Aside from physical force – including a push – assault also includes spitting or throwing items. Negative interactions include assault, intoxication, aggression, fare dispute, harassing behaviour or road rage against an operator. 

“We are all aware of greater mental health concerns and social distress in communities nation-wide; Saskatoon is no different,” he says.  “Saskatoon Transit will always support its Operators and riders and look at ways to enhance training and safety protocols to create a more positive workplace and ride experience.”  

Moellenbeck adds that the Plexiglas operator safety barriers Council approved in November 2020 are being installed with about one-third of the fleet complete. The remainder is expected to be installed this spring. 

A report to the Tuesday, March 7, 2023, Standing Policy Committee meeting on Environment Utilities and Corporate Services provides specific timelines on the delivery of green carts in Saskatoon.

On Monday, March 13, the cart manufacturer, Toter, will begin delivering the roll-out carts along with a kitchen pail, 10 Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) certified compostable bags and an information package to households that currently have roll-out black garbage carts and blue recycling carts. More than 60,000 carts will be delivered before the end of April, with the first cart collection dates starting in May.

“Each household will receive a green cart that will accept more materials than the previous subscription program,” says Director of Water and Waste Operations, Brendan Lemke. “Residents who already have green carts from the previous subscription program will continue to use them but will still receive the kitchen pail, BPI bags and information package.”

On Tuesday, March 7, an online map will be available for residents to pinpoint exactly when cart deliveries are taking place in their neighbourhood. Green carts will be delivered to the front of each property and can be placed for pick-up in the location where their black and blue cart collection happens.

Green Prairie Environmental (GPE) is currently building an organics processing facility, which is expected to handle about 20,000 tonnes or 3,300 truckloads of material from the green cart program every year. GPE plans to have the facility ready by May 1, however the City is developing a contingency plan for an alternate processing facility to ensure there are no interruptions in launching the program.

Lawn clippings, leaves, meat, dairy and paper towels are among the many things that residents will be able to divert from their garbage to the green cart. Because more than half of what we throw away can be composted, garbage cart collection will continue on a biweekly schedule once the green cart service begins.

A monthly average fee of $6.73 will appear on City utility bills beginning in May. The fee covers collection, composting, cart maintenance, education programs and program management. Plans for a multi-unit residential organics program are in the works, but for now, residents who utilize the large communal garbage and recycling bins are not affected by these changes and will not be charged monthly. This summer, businesses and organizations that generate food or yard waste as part of their operations will be required to separate it from the garbage.

For more information about green carts, and to download the ‘Saskatoon Waste Wizard’ app where you can check collection dates and sign up for collection reminders, please visit saskatoon.ca/greencart.

As it faces a preliminary deficit of just under two per cent, the City Administration has recommended a strong financial plan to offset the shortfall. The plan is outlined in a report to be presented on March 8 to the Standing Policy Committee on Finance. Under provincial law, municipalities are not allowed to operate with a deficit.

The 2022 preliminary year-end financials show a 1.94% deficit ($10.99 million) in the civic operating programs and a 0.84% surplus ($3.16 million) in the City’s utility programs, before the year-end audit confirmation. The report also highlights $3.25 million in Administration savings.

The preliminary year-end deficit includes $1.97 million of expenditures related to the December 2022 Snow Event. 

“We knew early in 2022 that a significant deficit was possible.  The Administration brought forward a comprehensive plan to City Council in early 2022 which included spending decreases and anticipated funding sources for a projected deficit.  The strategy we are putting in place now is based largely on the plan prior approved by Council in March 2022” says Kari Smith, Director of Finance.

The key variances by business line and service line are highlighted in Appendix 2: Detailed Overview of Preliminary 2022 Year-End Financial (Mill Rate) Results.

Administration is recommending the City’s remaining deficit of $9.02 million, after deducting the $1.97 million borrowing for the December 2022 Snow Event, be funded by:

• Waiving the transfer to reserve for the following items:
  • $14,220 to the Internal Audit Program Reserve;
  • $17,659 to the Animal Service Reserve; and
  • $173,247 to the Reserve for Unexpended Youth Sports Subsidy Funds.
• $710,740 reduction in the transfer from the Roadways Operating program to the Paved Roadways Infrastructure Reserve;
• $500,000 to be transferred from the Special Events Reserve - Profile Saskatoon;
• $924,395 to be transferred from the Land Operations Reserve; and
• $6.68 million to be transferred from the Fiscal Stabilization Reserve.

“The City continued to face significant inflationary pressures in 2022 and although some non-tax revenues like Transit Operations were higher than budgeted, other areas like Parking and Leisure Centres were lower with all three of these areas lower than pre-pandemic levels.  Favourably, several of our business and service lines achieved surpluses in 2022 including our Waste Services Utility and Saskatoon Light & Power,” Smith adds.

2022 Preliminary Year-end Utility-Related Program results

• Waste Services Utility reported a surplus of $ 1.79 million
• Saskatoon Light & Power (SL&P) reported a surplus of $1.22 million 
• Wastewater Utility reported a surplus of $1.08 million
• Storm Water Management Utility reported a surplus of $657,233
• Saskatoon Water Utility reported a deficit of $1.59 million 

Throughout  2022, the City Administration looked for several ways to keep costs down on training and its discretionary spending. Through these measures, City staff found one-time savings of $3.25 million through reduced staff training, materials, office supplies and discretionary hiring decisions.  The Administration reduced these expenses with an across-the-board directive for all departments due to lower revenues and other budgetary pressures the City experienced such as higher fuel costs and overall inflation.

Strong financial management will continue to support planning for a bright future

The City’s financial standing continues to be strong and sound overall, with its ‘AAA’/Stable credit rating reaffirmed for the 21^st consecutive year by S&P Global in January 2023. In planning for a bright and sustainable future, the City is committed to making City operations more efficient every year, creating greater ongoing savings across the organization and managing inflationary pressures.

The external audit of the 2022 financial statements is expected to be completed in June 2023. 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 2022 Annual Report which will be made available online later this year.

For more on the City’s Budget and Finances, visit saskatoon.ca/finance.

The City’s Technical Advisor on the Downtown Event and Entertainment District has outlined a growing trend of centrally located event and activity zones in many North American city-core areas. A community information session was held at the Roxy Theatre Tuesday, February 28.

“From ancient times to roughly the mid-twentieth century, the colosseum, theatre, arena and similar gathering places were in the centre of the city or town,” says Simon O’Byrne, Stantec Senior Vice President, Community Development. “We saw a suburban arena development trend in the last half of the twentieth century that did not support the area in a larger way. That has reversed with downtowns again benefiting from more animation, amenities and both population and business growth.”

Stantec has partnered with the international expertise of HOK and LMN, who have a wealth of experience in entertainment district design projects, including Rogers Place and Edmonton’s ICE District, the Seattle Convention Centre and the Calgary BMO Centre Expansion in Calgary.

“We’re confident the expertise we have retained will keep us moving toward a successful project,” says Dan Willems, Director of Technical Services. “Developments like the one we’re planning will help rejuvenate downtown and other traditional business areas, creating jobs and opportunities.”

The meeting heard the concept of a district goes far beyond anchors like an event or convention centre.

“The District will broaden the perspective of Downtown development,” says Councillor Cynthia Block, who represents the area and is Council’s Strategic Lead on Downtown Development and co-chair of the Advisory Group. “It will be a destination for our city, our province and beyond. It is also a strategic plan to drive density to the core and help Saskatoon become a more efficient city.”

Planning continues toward a more detailed design, construction procurement model and project scope scheduled for discussion in the late summer and fall. The City is seeking a private partner and other funding tools for a financially sound project that does not impact property tax.

For more information visit the Downtown Event & Entertainment District website.

The City of Saskatoon is launching a pilot program for gardening on centre medians to provide additional access for residents to garden in public spaces. Centre medians are paved, planted, or landscaped strips in the centre of a road that separate lanes of traffic.

Engagement surveys have indicated that there is a demand for this kind of public space gardening from many who live in multi-unit buildings like apartments, where a yard is not available.

“Adding these kinds of small, community-supported green spaces helps to create more habitat for pollinators like bees, assist in managing storm water, and can create community as neighbours or friends collaborate on creating and maintaining these gardens” says Director of Sustainability Jeanna South. “We have worked across several departments including parks, transportation, and bylaw compliance to ensure safety for gardeners and drivers, with guidelines specifying plant height and other important details.”

With this pilot, Saskatoon joins Vancouver in providing gardening opportunities in unique places for residents with green thumbs.

"It will be exciting to see what types of median garden plans our community members are inspired to create. We hope to see a number of applications, and people can get started as soon as spring weather permits,” says South. “We have created a native plant guide to help identify plants that fit within the height restrictions and have low maintenance water requirements.”

Details about the Boulevard Gardening Program and Centre Median Pilot, including guidelines and application forms, are available on the City’s website at Saskatoon.ca/BoulevardGardens.

Additional resources for gardening can be found at Saskatoon.ca/HealthyYards.