News Releases

The City is pleased that after it reached out to the Transit union leadership last week, both parties met on Friday, September 9 for most of the day. 

“We are hopeful this meeting and the meeting scheduled next week will lead to progress towards an agreement,” says Director of Human Resources, Marno McInnes.

However, there have been, and continue to be, allegations that the true financial picture of the pension plan has not been accurately portrayed. 

Here are some facts about the pension:

• The City of Saskatoon has no role in preparing or approving the financial picture of the pension plan.
• Both provincial and federal governments require that an assessment of the financial health of the Plan be conducted at least every three years. The last such pension valuation prepared for the City’s General Pension Plan was December 31, 2009 so the next valuation had to be prepared for December 31, 2012 and then filed with provincial authorities.
• Prior to changes being made, the Pension Plan Board of Trustees own independent pension expert reviewed the financial health and sustainability of the plan and found that it had a large deficit that would need to be addressed.
• The provincial regulator reviewed this result and approved the assessment and accepted the plan changes. 
• 8 of the City’s unions and associations understood and did not disagree on the state of the plan and, together with the City, took the necessary action to address this large deficit.
• Only the Transit union has made allegations that the City has somehow mislead everyone.

Here are some facts about wages:

Our wage offer of 10% over four years is fair. The City believes this is competitive to what is paid elsewhere for a full time Transit operator. For example, the following information shows what a Transit operator is being offered in 2016 in Saskatoon compared to what a Transit operator is being paid in Regina and Winnipeg: 

If the Transit union accepts our offer it means:

• All Transit employees, including Transit operators, would see an increase of 10% on their current wage today.
• All employees working at Access Transit would see an increase of 10% plus receive an additional $1.00 per hour increase -- resulting in a total increase of approximately 15% on their current wage today.
• The pension deal would be the same for all our employees in the General Pension Plan. 

“The City is committed to negotiating an agreement that meets the best interests of taxpayers, transit employees and customers of Saskatoon Transit,” McInnes says.

Night work on the 50-year-old College Drive pedestrian overpass will start on Monday, September 12. The City has contracted Graham Construction to conduct minor concrete repairs and repair the expansion joints, which will allow for overpass expansion and contraction.

“The repairs are expected to take four to five weeks,” says Rob Frank, Engineering Manager, Asset Preservation. “To accommodate pedestrians going to and from the University of Saskatchewan campus, work will only take place at night, meaning the pedestrian overpass will remain open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., seven days per week.”

The westbound curb lane of College Drive in the vicinity of the pedestrian overpass will remain closed for the duration of construction.

“This lane will remain completely closed to traffic as shoring towers must be placed there to support the overpass while work is being done. Major traffic issues are not expected,” Frank says.  

Concrete and expansion joint repairs on the College Drive pedestrian overpass were identified during annual Bridge Maintenance Program inspections. The University of Saskatchewan has been notified and signage will be placed at the entrances of the overpass directing pedestrians to cross College Drive at the Cumberland Avenue and Campus Drive intersections between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

The City thanks pedestrians and drivers for their patience while this necessary work is carried out. Slow down, pay attention and respect work zones. Watch for pedestrians and work crews, and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.

At its September 7, 2016 meeting, the Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (MHAC) resolved to indicate their support to City Council for the City Administration to begin the process of designating Third Avenue United Church a Municipal Heritage Property.

“The Westside Methodist Congregation began construction of its church in 1911,” says Lesley Anderson, Director of Planning and Development.  “The church represents a legacy of buildings in Saskatoon that reflect the aspirations of the city’s early citizens and it played a central role in Canada’s cultural, social and political life.”

The church played host to an influential gathering in 1923, which laid the foundation for the eventual formation of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool; the University of Saskatchewan, the Normal School and City Hospital held graduation ceremonies there.  In its early years during the 1920’s, CFQC radio broadcast concerts offering the entire community and rural Saskatchewan the opportunity to experience music performances like never before.

“With its many community uses over the years, Third Avenue United Church has remained a landmark in the city and, in many ways, is a symbol of Saskatoon’s development,” Anderson says.

Favourable heritage evaluations were conducted by civic staff in both 2003 and 2013.

The MHAC asked for any heritage designation to include the exterior and interior elements, such as the hammer-beam rafters, Cassavant organ and acoustic functionality of the structure.

“While the property owner isn’t pursuing a designation of the church at this time, the building has and does face changes in ownership,” Anderson says.  “This reality poses a potential risk to its character-defining elements, its future use and viability.”

The Heritage Property Act does not require the property owner’s permission to file either the Notice of Intention to Designate or for City Council to pass the bylaw to designate the property.

The Civic Heritage Policy provides grants for 50% of the restoration costs related to heritage architectural elements to meet building code requirements, up to a maximum of $150,000 over a ten-year period.

With the approval of City Council, the City Solicitor will be asked to bring forward a bylaw to designate the property at 304 3rd Avenue North as a Municipal Heritage Property under the provisions of The Heritage Property Act. 

Improvements to the intersection at 51st Street and Warman Road will be rescheduled for 2017. Over the next several months, the City will work with the contractor to explore every opportunity to reduce the impact to drivers during construction.

“As final construction phasing details came together, we identified opportunities to further improve the traffic flow at peak hours,” says Angela Gardiner, Director of Transportation. “This is one of the city’s busiest intersections and managing traffic flow carefully during construction is critical to maintaining safety and reducing delays.”

The City considers the impact to traffic for every construction project and works with contractors where possible to condense projects with 24-hour or 7-days per week work, or working at night.

The intersection of 51st Street and Warman Road will be impacted by the North Commuter Parkway route scheduled to open in 2018.

Learn more about ongoing construction projects at saskatoon.ca/betterroads.

Police arrested a man on suspicion of impaired driving following a collision with a City crew truck overnight.

“We do work on high traffic roads overnight to minimize the inconvenience to drivers during daytime hours,” says Director of Transportation, Angela Gardiner. “But even with warning lights in use as they were here, this incident further highlights the dangers our workers face every day on the job.” 

City workers were painting crosswalks along College Drive when it happened around 2:30 a.m. Friday near Munroe Avenue.

One worker had just stepped out of the truck to set up the next work zone when he heard a loud vehicle approaching. Luckily, he managed to jump to the side when a large pickup collided with the City half-ton. The crash pushed the City truck ahead another 10 meters.

Additionally, the second City worker in the driver’s seat hit his head on the steering wheel from the impact. Emergency workers treated and released him on scene.

“While the injuries in this case appear to be minor, just a few more seconds later these men would have been behind the truck,” Gardiner says. “It certainly could have had a tragic effect on these men and their families. We are so thankful no further harm came to them.”

The City will pursue opportunities to improve the safety of these work zone set-ups. Drivers are reminded to obey all signs and Respect Work Zones for their safety and the safety of workers.

For more on work zone safety, please visit saskatoon.ca/respectworkzones