News Releases

Interested in how many electric vehicles are on Saskatoon streets; the amount of solar power production in the community; and the population density increase? Details on all of these performance indicators and more are now available as the City has just completed a major expansion of the Environmental Dashboard—adding nearly a dozen new indicators including:

• waste production;
• community solar power production;
• the number of on-street electric vehicles; and
• fuel use by City vehicles. 

“The Environmental Dashboard provides important information to citizens and City staff and officials as we all work together to make our community more sustainable. Two of the City’s seven strategic goals are environmental leadership and sustainable growth,” says Amber Weckworth, Manager of Education and Environmental Programs in the City’s Sustainability Division.

“City Council has set targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, waste diversion, active transport, and other measures of sustainability. The newly expanded Environmental Dashboard can help us gauge our progress toward those goals and targets.”

The Environmental Dashboard contains information, data, and graphs on key indicators of environmental health and sustainability. Each indicator page includes information about what the City is doing to increase sustainability–programs and initiatives to decrease GHG emissions, conserve water, divert waste, and increase production of renewable energy. 

Residents are encouraged to frequent the Dashboard, as current indicators are continuously updated and additional indicators will be added over the coming months. 

To learn more about Saskatoon’s air, water, land, energy, and waste performance indicators, visit the newly expanded Environmental Dashboard: saskatoon.ca/envirodashboard.

The City of Saskatoon has been selected as one of ‘Canada’s Best Diversity Employers’ for 2019 by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

“We are honoured to receive this award for the eighth consecutive year as we place a high priority on creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees are valued and respected for their individual identities and contributions,” says Sarah Cameron, Chief Human Resources Officer.

The City of Saskatoon was selected based on exceptional workplace diversity and inclusiveness programs offered.  Highlights include:

• introducing mandatory Aboriginal Awareness training for employees, including a Truth and Reconciliation Resource Kit to enable ongoing learning
• facilitating employee understanding through a variety of training workshops such as Fundamentals of Cultural Competency, Understanding Invisible Disabilities and Inclusive Practices for LGBTQ2S Identities
• collaborating with Saskatoon Skills and Trades Centre to design and deliver pre-employment training to Indigenous candidates interested in custodian and labourer positions.

Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2019 are outlined in the March 1, 2019 edition of The Globe and Mail, as well as on Canada's Best Diversity Employers website.

The City has a long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and as Saskatoon’s population continues to grow and diversify it is imperative that we recruit and retain a workforce that represents and understands our citizens.        

Through the Smart Cities Challenge, the Government of Canada has tasked communities of all sizes to come forward with their best ideas to improve the lives of their residents through innovation, data and connected technology.  A smart city enables its citizens to use technology to make smart decisions.

In April 2018, Saskatoon submitted an initial proposal and was selected as one of the finalists for a chance to win $10 million (category: communities with populations under 500,000), to be used for implementing all aspects of a proposed plan.

Saskatoon’s final proposal, ConnectYXE, brings together innovative technology and partnerships to break the cycle of Indigenous youth incarceration by creating a new cycle focused on building purpose, belonging, security and identity.

“For the last eight months we have been working closely with the project’s Indigenous Youth Advisory Group, community-based organizations (CBOs), institutional partner organizations, and the technology community,” says Lynne Lacroix, Acting General Manager of Community Services. “We learned from those who have the most experience and the most at stake, what can make a difference in their lives.  We built our proposal around that.”

ConnectYXE is based on three pillars:

Empowerment of Indigenous youth and their families: providing real-time information and options for how to access services throughout the city, every day, all day.

Collaboration among partners: creating a repository of data of all relevant programs and services available throughout Saskatoon.

Harnessing innovative technology: connecting systems, sharing data and leveraging artificial intelligence.  The collective data in ConnectYXE will provide a city-wide picture of what is available and the demands on those supports at any time.  This enables CBOs, institutional partners, and decision-makers to regularly analyze and to identify gaps, trends, and better ways to respond.

“A whole-of-community approach, with youth at the centre, is needed to address the complex challenges that urban Indigenous youth face,” says Mayor Charlie Clark.  “These challenges are rooted in historical injustices, intergenerational trauma, and racism.”

The final proposal was submitted yesterday.  The Government of Canada will announce the winning communities in late Spring 2019.

To learn more:

• Smart Cities Challenge:  Government of Canada's Challenge website 
• Saskatoon’s proposal: saskatoon.ca/smartcities
• ConnectYXE video:  youtube.com/saskatooncitynews 
• Join the conversation on social media using hashtag #smartcitiesCanada

The City wishes to thank the Indigenous Youth Advisory Group, community allies and institutional partners for their commitment and support of this project. Institutional partners include:  Central Urban Métis Federation, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Saskatoon Health Authority, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Saskatoon Police Service, Saskatoon Public School Division, Saskatoon Tribal Council, United Way of Saskatoon and area, and the University of Saskatchewan.

Following a formal Request For Proposals for the lease to operate the Farmers’ Market Building in River Landing issued in October, 2018, the City will not be awarding a lease and the RFP is now cancelled.

During the RFP process, it became apparent that ongoing water issues with the roof on the building will require significant repairs, and as such, the building will need to close for approximately three months to accommodate those repairs. During the RFP process, the City received two applications and it thanks the parties that submitted a proposal. However, awarding the lease to a tenant, only to close the building for a lengthy period, would be unfair.

The City has offered to extend the lease of the current tenant through the 2019 growing season, and the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Cooperative (SFMCL) has agreed to stay on, in which case the building will remain open until December 31, 2019, when the lease with the SFMCL will end. Closure of the building and subsequent repairs to the roof would take place in early 2020.

Requests For Proposals will now be required for the work to design solutions and then repair the building’s roof. Future operations of the building will be explored in the coming months.

For the eighth consecutive year, the City of Saskatoon has been selected as one of Saskatchewan’s 2019 Top Employers. The competition recognizes Saskatchewan employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work.

“The success of everything we do at the City of Saskatoon depends on the expertise, skills and commitment of our employees. That’s why we will continue to focus on employee engagement and creating a welcoming workplace where all people are encouraged to realize their potential,” says Chief Human Resources Officer Sarah Cameron.

“As Saskatoon continues to grow and become more culturally diverse so does our need to interact effectively with people of different cultures. Last year we introduced mandatory Indigenous awareness training for all employees and leadership training to build intercultural competency so that we can better serve all citizens of Saskatoon,” Cameron says.

The City of Saskatoon was evaluated on eight criteria, the same used for the Canada Top 100 Employer’s competition: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement.

Employers are compared with other organizations in their field to determine which ones offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

The Saskatchewan’s 2019 Top Employers are highlighted in today’s Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post.