News Releases

The City of Saskatoon has recovered roughly $400 thousand in funds that in August were directed to a fraudster’s bank account through a fraud scheme. 

City Manager Jeff Jorgenson says the City continues to actively work with law enforcement,  banks, and its legal team to recover the remainder of the stolen money.

“There is an important court hearing taking place this week in Toronto,” Jorgenson says.  “It’s expected there will be further movement on the return of more funds following that hearing. For now, the funds still remain frozen in various bank accounts.”

Jorgenson adds the internal investigation has been completed. An update report will be provided to City Council and the public in October or November 2019.

After discovering the fraud August 12, 2019, the City took quick action and on August 16, 2019, an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered the City funds to be frozen.

The vast majority of the $1.04 million obtained in the fraud scheme that has not been returned to the City has been identified, traced and locked down by the Court.

View related news releases on this matter on saskatoon.ca.

Next week, Saskatoon will host the 2019 Creative City Summit (Summit). From October 1 to 3, municipalities, arts organizations and government agencies will meet in Saskatoon to share ideas, connect and work together to build vital infrastructure for arts and cultural development in Canada. 

The Summit is the annual gathering of the Creative City Network of Canada (CCNC), an organization of municipal staff, organizations and individuals working in communities across Canada on arts, cultural and heritage policy, planning, development and support.  The CCNC exists to connect and educate the people who do this work so they can be more effective in cultural development in their communities. 

“The Creative City Network of Canada has named Saskatoon this year’s ‘Creative City.’ The Summit we will be gathering on First Nation Traditional Land of Treaty 6 and the Homeland of the Métis, and we look forward to learning more about the Indigenous culture of the region,” says Kelly Jerrott, President, Creative City Network of Canada.  “Cultural colleagues from across Canada will be sharing, learning and celebrating the significant role culture has in creating vibrant and healthy communities.”

2019 is the first time the Summit will be hosted in Saskatoon. Hosting a Summit puts the host municipality in the spotlight and raises the profile of the community across Canada by encouraging people to visit and experience the community’s cultural resources. The Summit can also strengthen the support for culture within the community and highlight local achievements.    

“The theme of this year’s Summit, ‘Growing the Creative Cultural Economy for 21st Century Cities,’ is intended to challenge delegates to view cultural assets and resources as powerful municipal economic drivers,” says Kevin Kitchen, the City’s Community Development Manager. “We look forward to learning from other cities and from creative industries on how we can further develop our own creative cultural economy in Saskatoon.” 

For more information on the Summit, visit saskatoon.ca/artsandculture and creativecity.ca. 

The City of Saskatoon, together with Reconciliation Saskatoon is proud to support Orange Shirt Day on September 30. The day aims to raise awareness of the devastating impact of the Indian residential school system on Indigenous people, their families and the social fabric of the community, and supports the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action #80.

“Our roots got shaken up, pulled up and cut off from our families but we are slowly re-rooting ourselves by reclaiming and re-learning our languages, our ceremonies – these are our sacred sites of resistance,” says Linda Young, a residential school survivor from Onion Lake Cree Nation.

“Speaking our ancestral language, practicing our ceremonies, protecting the Land and Water, is slowly but surely unclogging the blocked arteries to our hearts, giving us new life,” adds Young.

The public is invited to attend any of the following events to mark this day and learn more about the historical legacy of Indian Residential Schools:

Speaker Event – September 26

As a residential school survivor, Linda Young will share her personal story of time spent at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Indian Residential School. The event is free and takes place at Cosmo Civic Centre Theatre from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Please register in advance.

Free Community Pancake Breakfast – September 30

Hosted by CUMFI, this event aims to honour Indian residential school survivors, Sixties Scoop survivors, Day School, MMIWG and Two-Spirited peoples. It will take place at the Central Urban Metis Federation (CUMFI) Office from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Traditional Ceremonies & Mini Round Dance – September 30

Hosted by survivors and old people circle, the theme for the day is "Every Child Matters". This event will celebrate the children and families at three traditional ceremonies. Events are taking place at White Buffalo Youth Lodge from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

“CUMFI is working with Reconciliation Saskatoon to educate the grass roots community on the impacts of Indian Residential Schools and the Sixties Scoop by honouring the Survivors. We invite you all to wear orange on September 30 and to attend our community pancake breakfast,” says Central Urban Metis Federation Inc. President Shirley Isbister, President.

Orange Shirt Day grew out of the story of six-year old Phyllis Webstad who wore an orange shirt on her first day of residential school. It was forcefully removed from her and her story is now a powerful reminder of the inter-generational trauma that has resulted from decades of cultural loss.

Reconciliation Saskatoon is a 98-member initiative of community organizations, non-profit organizations, businesses and partners who have come together to initiate a citywide conversation about reconciliation and provide opportunities for everyone to engage in the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Calls to Action.

The City of Saskatoon’s commitment to the TRC Calls to Action supports the City’s strategic goal of Quality of Life by identifying actions for enhancing Indigenous residents’ well-being and participation in our community.

Orange Shirt Day events are made possible through the support of community investors Nutrien, Affinity, Dakota Dunes Community Development Corporate, SIGA, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Community Foundation and the National Indian Brotherhood Trust Fund.

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) and the City of Saskatoon are partnering on a new program to help solve challenging urban issues through the power of research collaboration.

The new $100,000 cost-shared program—Research Junction—will involve research teams of at least one USask researcher and one City of Saskatoon staff member working together to address community needs around issues that include urban planning, reconciliation, transit, environmental sustainability, and youth issues.

Research Junction is a major initiative under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last year between the City of Saskatoon and USask to explore wide-ranging collaborations.   

“As the City of Saskatoon and the university work together towards a healthy, strong and sustainable future, Research Junction will provide the opportunity for our staff to join with researchers to problem solve and create unique solutions to the issues facing our city,” said Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark. “The result of this collaboration will have tremendous and positive outcomes for our community.” 

The funding—$50,000 from USask and $50,000 from the City of Saskatoon (committed in last year’s city budget)—will be allocated through a grant competition, with a Nov. 1 deadline. It is anticipated that this initial “seed funding” will attract external funding longer term.

“This exciting flagship initiative of our university-city partnership draws on the wealth of knowledge and expertise of our research community to help find locally tailored solutions to pressing City of Saskatoon research needs,” said USask President Peter Stoicheff. “It’s one way that we can give back to our community and be the university the world needs – starting with addressing complex challenges right here in our city.”    

The research questions and projects will be co-developed and each project will either create a new collaborative partnership or broaden the scope of an existing partnership.

Half a dozen grants of $10,000 to $30,000 each will be awarded to projects that support the city’s strategic goals and contribute to making Saskatoon a great place to live, work, learn and play. Projects must be completed within 18 months.

“This program will enable university researchers and city staff to connect on research needs and opportunities in a more co-ordinated way,” said Dan Willems, the city’s Interim Chief of Strategy and Transformation Officer. “We’ve had collaborations for a long time within areas such as engineering research and other issues, but this initiative will enable us to broaden the topics and issues that we work together to help solve. These types of collaborations often unlock creative innovation.” 

Research Junction will provide researchers with access to the city’s resources, data and expertise for research projects, and provide city staff with access to analyses and data to inform decision-making. 

The initiative will also create co-developed experiential learning and research opportunities for USask students and post-doctoral fellows, which could help prepare them for future careers.    

USask donor provides another $98,000 to augment community impact  

In addition, thanks to a $98,000 anonymous donation, USask has launched a related initiative to focus research on community well-being through collaborative community-based research proposals with the City of Saskatoon and other partners. This year, up to $50,000 of this fund will be allocated for collaborative projects related to homelessness.  The deadline for proposals for this Pathways initiative is Nov. 1.

“It is inspiring when donors come forward to help drive social change in our community through the power of research,” said Laura Zink, director of USask Strategic Research Initiatives. “Collaborations between our researchers and city personnel through the Pathways initiative will help find solutions to the many dimensions of homelessness.”

The research collaborations and success stories from Research Junction and the Pathways initiative will be shared on a website: research.usask.ca/research-junction.

To streamline administrative processes, the City of Saskatoon and USask are creating a master research agreement and data licensing agreement.