News Releases

The City wants to extend many thanks to its Transit employees and to the public: to transit employees for their continuing efforts and professionalism through this lengthy set of contract negotiations; to the public for its patience and understanding that the City is attempting to settle the contract in a way which is fair for every city employee.

We met Thursday, November 10 with ATU and tabled a comprehensive package of wages and benefits, including a way of dealing with their concerns over this pension language

We believed it would get us a deal as it is a very fair and reasonable offer.  We are offering a 10% wage increase and in the current economic downturn, it’s certainly above what many workers would receive elsewhere in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, the ATU Executive retrenched its position on the pension changes and now says it will not accept the pension changes or the future sustainability plan for the pension.  The City even met with the union executive on the morning of November 11, only to be presented with the same position.

I’m sure this is as disappointing to you as it is to the City.  We have been very practical in bargaining with the ATU Executive over the last four years, but we can now only conclude that they are firmly entrenched in their belief that they deserve a better pension than any of the other city employees.  That is just not a fair or reasonable position.

For the sake of all City employees – including transit workers – and for the sake of protecting the public purse, the City simply cannot compromise on the pension changes and the sustainability plan for the pension.  It is of key importance to the City to protect the defined benefit plan of its employees in a way that is affordable for taxpayers.

A Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA) analysis reveals the local economy loses $2.5 million of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year as a result of traffic delays at major rail crossings in the city.

“This study provides us with a measurement of what we’ve suspected for some time,” says Angela Gardiner, Director of Transportation.  “These results will further enhance the Railway Working Group’s move toward a solution for minimizing delays at rail crossings on high traffic streets.”

The analysis is highlighted in a report for the November 14 meeting of the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation.

“The lost GDP is due to lost labour productivity to businesses in the Saskatoon Region as a result of traffic delays at nine rail crossings in the City,” says Alex Fallon, President & CEO, SREDA.

In March, the Committee directed the Administration to expand the ongoing work of the Railway Working Group to include exploring relocation of railways.  This additional mandate will be considered in the 2017 budget discussions beginning at month’s end.

The Administration report details modifications have already been made to Canadian National Railway’s (CN) operations in the south west portion of the city to reduce traffic delays in the area.

The Administration report further outlines the two phases of the upcoming feasibility study. The first phase will evaluate the costs and benefits of relocating the Canadian Pacific (CP) mainline and possibly the rail yard compared to constructing grade separations at priority rail crossing locations.

“The impact of CP on the city’s road network is significantly greater than that of CN due to the number of at-grade crossings along the mainline,” Gardiner says.  “If the relocation of CP is determined to be financially feasible, the study may further explore the relocation of CN.”

Two options will be considered as part of the feasibility study: either construct grade separations at priority rail crossing locations; or relocate CP rail infrastructure, including CP Sutherland Yards.

Once an option is chosen by City Council, the second phase of the study would be a more detailed analysis to develop a business case to approach other orders of government for construction funding.

The first phase of the feasibility study will be completed in 2017 and presented to the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation in early 2018.​​

Following extensive consultation and engagement with its citizens, the City is proud to release the 2017 Business Plan and Budget which aims at striking a balance between investing in key priorities while practicing good fiscal management and restraint. 

“The City of Saskatoon’s proposed 2017 Business Plan and Budget is focused on achieving what we heard through our public engagement process, namely increased road maintenance and snow and ice service,” says Chief Financial Officer, Kerry Tarasoff.  “While the City cannot satisfy the demands of all, we are very proud to say that this financial plan attempts to accomplish many of the important things that citizens told us in during the Shaping our Financial Future community engagement.”
To help pay for the City’s operations and to ensure the budget is balanced, the 2017 Business Plan and Budget proposes a 3.97% property tax increase.

The 2017 Operating Budget

Total operating expenditures of $481.4 million, an increase of $16.6 million, or 3.6%, over the 2016 approved Operating Budget.

Tax-supported-operating expenditures of $463.4 million for 2017, an increase of $18.4 million or 4.1%, over the 2016 approved Operating Budget.

Tax-supported operating expenditures represent 96.3% of total operating expenditures in 2017.

In 2017, 1% of the property tax is equivalent to $2.03 million. So, the proposed property tax increase for 2017 will generate an additional $8.1 million for the City’s Operating Budget. The additional property tax revenue that is collected will be distributed as follows:

• 0.55% or $1.1 million dedicated to snow and ice management
• 1.93% or $3.9 million dedicated to the maintenance of roadways.  The final year of the road levy will deliver $61.8 million to continue road improvements.
• 1.49% or $3.1 million allocated to pay for police, firefighters and other expenditures associated with all other programs and services.

The 2017 Capital Budget

In contrast to the City’s Operating Budget, the City’s Capital Budget provides the investments in hard infrastructure. This includes the construction of buildings (like recreation centres and libraries), transportation assets (like new roads and bridges), and neighbourhood infrastructure (like sidewalks and water lines).

For 2017, the City of Saskatoon is investing $261.4 million in various capital projects. This is an increase of approximately $32.7 million, or 14.3% over the 2016 approved Capital Budget.  This increase in capital programming is largely due to the City’s allocations under the Federal Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) of $37.3 million and Clean Water and Wastewater Fund (CWWF) of $31.6 million.

What this means to residential property owners

The proposed property tax increase of 3.97% means that a homeowner who owns a single family detached home with an average assessment of $325,000 will see their municipal property taxes increase by $67.55 per year or $5.63 per month.  

“In supporting one of Canada’s great cities and vibrant economies, the City will to continue to deliver value to citizens,” Tarasoff says. “With thousands of new citizens joining us every year, providing quality services, vibrant facilities and properly maintained infrastructure is crucial to sustaining that energy.”

View the detailed 2017 Preliminary Corporate Business Plan Budget documents here.

A Saskatoon Transit articulating bus was involved in a multiple vehicle collision this afternoon.  It happened near the intersection of Preston Avenue and College Drive West around 5:30 p.m.

Police, firefighters and ambulance crews responded to the scene; paramedics took one of the bus passengers to hospital with undetermined injuries.

The Broadway Avenue Improvement Project and the Water Main Replacement Project Queen Street location both wrap up this week. This brings two of the City’s major 2016 projects to a successful close. 

“It’s been another very busy construction season overall and we are very happy to deliver on our commitment of building better roads for Saskatoon residents and visitors,” says Celene Anger, Director of Construction and Design. “The Broadway Avenue Improvement Project and Water Main Replacement Project Queen Street location were a large part of the City’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, meeting our immediate priorities for clean drinking water and safe wastewater removal to support a cleaner and healthier environment for our communities.”

Water main infrastructure in the Broadway neighbourhood and beneath Queen Street was almost 100 years old and were priority locations requiring the most urgent attention. Work in both areas included replacing water main infrastructure – replacing cast iron pipes and fittings and removing lead connections in order to remove weak links in the existing water distribution network. Sanitary sewer systems were also upgraded and lastly there was significant rehabilitation of roadways. This work required extensive excavation and temporary water service connections in addition to traffic restrictions and detours.

“Work on Broadway started at the beginning of the construction season back in May, and even with a stretch of cold and snow in early October, the project was finished within days of our target completion date,” Anger says. “Businesses and residents in the Broadway area were very patient while we worked on and under their streets. Now they have water main infrastructure that’s built for the future, and a smooth roadway to go with it.”   

The Queen Street project – replacing water mains between 6th Avenue and 8th Avenue – involved significant coordination between Saskatoon City Hospital and the City of Saskatoon. Although work on this particular part of the City’s water infrastructure system did not impact the hospital directly, the road work did. This 16-week project needed to be phased to allow for consistent access to the hospital for emergency services, patients, workers and residents.

Anger says her team is always looking for ways to improve how they do work and to minimize negative effects on the community.

“These were big projects which upset routines of a lot of people so we needed to be innovative. This year, our coordinated approach using targeted, flexible phasing, and extended work hours allowed us to improve services and complete the work in an efficient manner,” she says. “It’s our goal to minimize the impact to residents, businesses and essential services while we work. We thank everyone for their patience while this necessary construction was carried out.”

In the spring, crews will return to Broadway Avenue for final touch up work, landscaping and sidewalk panels and some paving on a small section of roadway at the top of the bridge. Extended paving from 2nd Avenue to Spadina Crescent (excluding the already complete Queen Street project area) will also take place in the spring.

Throughout the projects, access was always maintained to the Broadway Bridge and Saskatoon City Hospital.

Some key facts from the Broadway Avenue Improvement Project include:

• 1,663 metres of water main replaced.
• 8.9 lane kilometres of road resurfaced.
• 100 water service connections replaced.

Some key facts from the Queen Street Water Main Replacement Project include:

• 195 metres of water main replaced.
• 195 metres of road resurfaced.
• 5 water service connections replaced.

The cost for the Broadway Avenue Improvement Project is $6 million and $850,000 for the Queen Street Water Main Replacement Project.

To learn more please visit saskatoon.ca/broadway and saskatoon.ca/queenstreet.