News Releases

On Oct. 30, 2023, SaskAbilities Partners in Employment and the City of Saskatoon entered into a partnership agreement to increase employment opportunities for individuals experiencing disability in the community. This significant agreement comes at the end of Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM), a month dedicated to spotlighting the many benefits of inclusive hiring in the workplace across all industries and sectors.

“Supported employment is a key part of the way SaskAbilities works to build inclusive communities for people of all abilities. The City of Saskatoon has been such a wonderful partner for many years, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to further solidify our working relationship and signify their commitment and dedication to being an inclusive employer in our community.” – Emily Hurd, Regional Director, SaskAbilities Saskatoon Branch

Since 2019, Partners in Employment and the City of Saskatoon have collaborated to secure meaningful employment for 13+ program participants. The partnership agreement aims to “identify and explore opportunities to increase the employment of individuals experiencing disability in Saskatoon and area through cooperative initiatives”, as well, “continue to explore opportunities to strengthen and develop business opportunities” between the City of Saskatoon and the Training Centre at the SaskAbilities Saskatoon Branch.

“Through this partnership, the City commits to working closely with SaskAbilities to promote job shadowing, employment opportunities, and the broader mission of supported employment. This agreement is an accumulation of a lot of great work done by the City to build awareness both internally and within the greater community. We believe in promoting a culture of inclusion and doing so in partnership with a great organization like SaskAbilities.” – Jeff Jorgenson, City Manager, City of Saskatoon.

For more information on SaskAbilities, please visit www.saskabilities.ca.

As directed by City Council, Saskatoon will consider its first Climate Budget during the 2024-25 Business Plan and Municipal Budget deliberations on November 28-30, 2023.

The Funding Environmental Sustainability Actions and Climate Budget Report responds to a request from the Standing Policy Committee on Environment Utilities and Corporate Services (EUCS) and will be on the November 1 agenda. It includes a preview of the Climate Budget as well as details of the resources needed to progress the Low Emissions Community (LEC) and Green Pathways plans.  It outlines both funded and unfunded projects related to these plans.

“What City Council has asked us to do is come up with measures that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases that will require investments in the short term”, says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “The ultimate expectation, looking 30 years out, is that these measures will make us more resilient and efficient while meeting our climate commitments.”

A climate budget is a governance system that establishes actions that the City needs to take in the short-term to achieve long-term targets as set out in the climate action plan.  By integrating the Climate Budget into financial budget decision-making processes, climate and environmental impacts are understood before they occur. This creates a coordinated approach with other budgeting considerations, such as societal impacts, asset management, safety, and economics.

If significant global climate action is not taken, ClimateWest (Costs of Climate Change Report, March 2023) estimates by 2050, the direct annual economic impacts of climate change in Saskatchewan will be $3.1B or $1,875 per capita. ClimateWest projects damage to electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure due to climate change to cost $65-95M annually by 2050 in Saskatchewan alone. Annual flood damages are expected to cost $70-80M, while costs due to delays arising from increased road and rail damage are expected to be $65-125M in the province by 2050.

The 2024-25 Climate Budget presents a two-year window within the 30-year Low Emissions Community (LEC) Plan. The LEC Plan was created to improve the community’s long-term resiliency and efficiency to achieve the City’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target incrementally over time.

Seventy-five per cent of the projects in the Climate Budget support efficient civic operations and services, enhance resiliency, and/or promote sound asset management; these are recommended for funding in the 2024/2025 Business Plan and Budget. These projects also have environmental benefits; most will achieve GHG reductions, some will result in utility cost savings or improve green network resilience and performance. Subject to City Council’s approval, the funded projects include:

• Bus Rapid Transit and electrification - system improvements for Saskatoon Transit and bus purchases;
• Water-saving measures at spray pads/paddling pools and irrigation upgrades in parks which will result in operational savings;
• Civic facility improvements - such as renovations at Archibald Arena;
• Managing the long-term viability of the landfill and reducing waste through the Material Recovery Centre operation, restoration of landfill gas wellfield, and development of a bulky waste program; and
• Green Pathways initiatives that enhance the green network through existing planned projects like park upgrades and storm sewer trunk and collection.

Funding for the initiatives listed comes from capital reserves, external non-City funding, and loans.

The unfunded projects are still required to progress City goals and plans, even if they do not move forward this budget cycle.  These projects may be reconsidered in the next budget cycle, or if priorities and/or resource availability changes. Some of these projects could be funded through loans that pay themselves back with savings, such as loans to the community or fleet electrification. Other projects would require new funds, for instance from property taxes; this has not been recommended at this time.

The GHG reductions estimated from projects in the 2024-2025 Climate Budget includes:

• The LEC reduction goal for 2025 = 201,500 tonnes of CO2e (100 per cent)
• Funded projects estimate = 1,200 tonnes of CO2e reduction (0.6 per cent of the LEC reduction goal)
• Unfunded projects = 18,800 tonnes CO2e reduction at full build-out (9.3 per cent of the goal)
• After combining funded and unfunded projects, there is a gap of undefined projects required to achieve 181,500 tonnes of CO2e reduction, or 90.1 per cent.

The 2024-2025 Climate Budget GHG projection is a conservative estimate; it does not include reductions from projects with high uncertainty that could not be quantified (e.g., active transportation, bus rapid transit); or reductions from projects that were implemented in 2022/2023 (like organics, landfill gas expansion, and others) that could amount to more than 40,000 tonnes of CO₂e reductions each year. 

You can find additional information at Saskatoon.ca/ClimateBudget and Saskatoon.ca/ClimateChange.

While the company hired by the City to process green cart material has defaulted on its contract, green cart organics collection will continue. In the short-term, Loraas will continue to assist the City in processing organics materials while City officials explore cost reduction options by processing the organics in-house.

“We are disappointed that the successful vendor was unable to provide organics processing services under the contract but are fortunate to have measures in place allowing us to pursue other options to avoid disruption of the program,” says Brendan Lemke, Director of Water & Waste Operations. “In the short-term, we will continue working with Loraas while we look to complete a portion of the processing at our own facilities. By sending materials to both the Saskatoon Regional Waste Management Centre and the West Compost Depot, we will help to reduce financial pressures on the utility rates in the short term.”

A report to the November 1 meeting of the Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services Committee (EU&CS) contains details that outline short-term options for processing organics following Green Prairie Environmental's default of its organics processing contract.

The City awarded Green Prairie Environmental (GPE) the contract in September 2020 to provide organics processing services to support the City’s Curbside Organics Program. Despite it being a key condition of the contract, GPE did not site a permanent location for an organics processing facility. The Administration supported GPE to find a suitable location following its initial denial in the RM of Corman Park, but as preparation for a site progressed, GPE was unsuccessful in obtaining regulatory approval to construct the facility. GPE is ultimately unable to process organics in accordance with the contract and has defaulted on the contract as a result.

Since program launch, organics materials have been composted by Loraas and not landfilled unless contaminated. In addition to continuing to haul organics materials to Loraas for processing, the Administration is pursuing options to temporarily process a portion of the materials at the Saskatoon Regional Waste Management Centre and West Compost Depot. The City will continue to divert organics away from the landfill to make a beneficial use product and reduce greenhouse gases from waste. To date, more than 15,000 tonnes of organic waste have successfully been diverted from the landfill since collections began in May. No disruptions to the curbside organics program are expected.

A report with long-term options will be presented to EU&CS by Q1 2024.

Beginning at 3 a.m. City of Saskatoon crews were applying salt to Priority 1 streets as the snow began to fall, and remain on the go today, focusing on Circle Drive and continuing to manage the road conditions on priority streets.  

“Crews focused on Circle drive and other high-speed streets, as these are the streets where collisions due to icy conditions have the potential to be the most serious,” says Goran Saric, Director of Roadways, Fleet and Support. “Bridge decks were also an area of focus.” 

The timing of the snowfall did not allow crews to spread salt on all priority streets before the morning commute. It takes up to 12 hours to apply de-icing material to all priority streets in Saskatoon. Additionally, spreading salt in advance of the overnight snowfall on dry pavement would not have been effective. This is because without any moisture, the majority of the salt would have been blown off the road surface by traffic.  

There is a chance that some icy conditions will develop overnight, as Environment & Climate Change Canada forecasts temperatures to drop further overnight and stay below freezing for the remainder of the week. Crews will be out on the streets continuously to monitor and address conditions as they change. 

Drivers should adjust their driving for the road conditions and leave extra room and time for their commute. We understand the inconvenience that the first snowfall a few hours before the morning commute and icy driving conditions create. We ask for everyone’s patience as crews work to restore normal winter driving conditions on City streets. 

Please watch for blue and amber flashing lights on road maintenance equipment and leave room for the operators to do their work.  

Learn about winter road maintenance at saskatoon.ca/snow. Stay in the snow with the Snow & Ice Report at saskatoon.ca/snowreport. 

The City of Saskatoon has released a new tool for homeowners to better understand their home’s energy use and make improvements.  The map uses artificial intelligence (AI) to produce a digital energy score that can be used to compare against other homes of similar size, age, and type and help users understand how much energy their home consumes.  The map also provides each homeowner with a customized “retrofit roadmap” to see what actions they can take to reduce their energy consumption. 

“Just like home appliances have energy labels that indicate how efficient they are, this map provides a digital energy score for Saskatoon homes. The lower the score, the more efficient the energy use in that home,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “The Home Energy Map helps residents to visualize their home energy use in a different way, comparing it against other homes in the city, and providing them with a list of renovations they can consider to help decrease energy use.”

Saskatoon’s extreme temperatures means that a lot of energy is used at home, with 42% of Saskatoon’s total greenhouse gas emissions coming from heating, cooling, and providing power to homes. The core objective of the Home Energy Map is to help homeowners build momentum on a retrofit journey, and to connect them to other resources such as Energy Coaching to provide hands-on support through the process.

Users have the option to create an account for their home address and provide additional information about their home - including any upgrades they have already completed - to update the total energy score. While only the home energy score is publicly visible, the tool also provides a set of personalized recommendations to account holders for renovations that could help reduce overall energy consumption. 

“The goal of our software tools is to help cities and homeowners to see which actions in which buildings will generate the biggest energy and emissions savings,” says OPEN Technologies CEO Donovan Woollard. “We applaud the City of Saskatoon for its leadership in setting an ambitious reduction target, and for investing in tools like the Home Energy Map to provide a roadmap on how to get there.” 

According to the 2023 Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) Homebuyer Preference Survey, four of the top ten most desired features are energy-related, with “overall energy efficient home” among the top priorities for prospective homebuyers. 

With the Canada Greener Homes initiative, homeowners can access up to $40,000 in interest free loans, and up to $5,600 in grants, making it easier to fund these kinds of renovation activities. This is the fourth home energy-focused initiative the City has launched in 2023 (links below); all programs were funded by the Green Municipal Fund, administered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Associated links:  
Saskatoon.ca/EnergyMap
Saskatoon.ca/EnergyCoaches
Solar.myheat.ca/saskatoon
Saskatoon.ca/RenoResources