News Releases

The City has plans for a new model of citizen service that will see a widespread shift in how it provides services and responds to citizen requests. The new model, called Service Saskatoon, will offer citizens more opportunities to access information, answers and services online while improving the over-the-phone and over-the-counter experience of those who choose to connect with the City.

“New technology has contributed to a change in how citizens want to ask questions, raise issues or request services from us,” says Catherine Gryba, General Manager, Corporate Performance. “Service Saskatoon will ensure quality and consistent service is provided to every citizen, every time, whether they choose to connect with us on the phone, in person or online,” Gryba says.

“We want to provide citizens with the information and answers they need – quickly, simply and seamlessly – using whichever channels they prefer.”

Gryba says the shift to the new model will require changes to many aspects of the City’s business operations, processes and current systems. The ultimate success of Service Saskatoon will be supported by four pillars: 

• Citizen Input
• Staffing
• Systems
• Standards

Each pillar will focus on different aspects to improve the overall service experience of citizens. 

The City’s transition to the new model is expected to take five years. The effort will be led by veteran administrator, Pat Hyde, who leaves his former role as Director of Public Works to become Director of Service Saskatoon. Hyde will oversee its development, implementation, and will work closely with City departments and divisions to implement the new service model across the organization.

“The technology centerpiece of our new model will be a new Customer Relationship Management system that will prioritize requests and give citizens ways to monitor our progress,” Hyde says. “The City is piloting its new approach to citizen service in responding to water and sewer issues.”

“Residents who request service for water outages, hydrant issues, water connections, sewer locates or sewer backups will receive a unique tracking number to monitor the City’s progress on the job until the issue has been resolved,” he says.

During the pilot, citizens will be limited to following up on the status of their service request by phoning the Public Works Customer Service Centre at 306-975-2476. The success of the pilot project will inform the development of the City’s organization-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system in the future where service status updates will be available online.

Ultimately what will drive the success of Service Saskatoon will be the input and feedback of citizens. It’s one of the new model’s key pillars. One way for citizens to get involved is to sign up for our Citizen Advisory Panel. The online panel is a simple and easy way to provide suggestions on a range of issues and initiatives. The City will draw on this Advisory Panel through the implementation of Service Saskatoon to guide and shape how services are designed in the future. Citizens who are interested in participating can register online at saskatoon.ca/citizen-advisory-panel. 

Gryba says the appointment of Pat Hyde is a good fit. 

“We’re thrilled that Pat has agreed to step into this pivotal role,” says Gryba. “Given the complexity and significance of this change, it will require the focused attention of an experienced leader who understands ‘service’ from both a citizen and City point of view.”

For more information on Service Saskatoon and for updates on various initiatives under each pillar please visit saskatoon.ca/service.

For more City of Saskatoon news, program information, Service Alerts, Traffic Detours, and links to our social media channels, please visit saskatoon.ca.

After 26 hours of operations crews are making great headway on the fire at Shercom Industries to the point of knocking down spot fires.

"This was and continues to be a very difficult fire," says Assistant Chief Dave Bykowy. "So far it's taken in excess of 140 fire, environmental, medical, police and provincial fire professionals working as a team to bring the flames to the point of spot fire extinguishment."

The current primary priority is to address a stubborn concealed fire located among the 80 barrels of polyurethane. One of the key fire attack priorities of firefighters is to keep the barrels intact which many appear to be.

"After completing our fourth operational period today and the fourth rotation of personnel this would be a significant environmental victory," Bykowy says.

Tactics are currently underway to cut access holes in the adjacent wall to attack the fire from the rear.

Additionally, the third building containing the offices and certain manufacturing processes has been saved. Crews entered the building to conduct their primary and secondary searches as well as the retrieval of key computer equipment critical to Shercom operations; the last of the computers planned to be retrieved in the morning.

"Fire was cut off just in time in this building with significant high level heat damage to the manufacturing plant," Bykowy says. "The offices sustained heavy smoke damage but otherwise are completely intact."

Crews will continue to expose and extinguish spot fires through the night and re-assess in the morning.

The smoke plume generated by this fire has decreased markedly as the bulk of the fire has been extinguished.

Crews continue to battle the fire at Shercom Industries in the North Corman Industrial Park. During the night the fire moved to the second building of the three building complex.

“Crews are working to hold the fire from further extension and are trying to save the third building which houses the main office of the business,” says Assistant Chief Dave Bykowy.

Later today, the Fire Department will be deploying several foam streams in a concerted effort to knock the fire out in the second building and protect the remaining office building.  “If the fire darkens down, a track hoe will be used to gain better access to the existing fire. This will provide firefighters access to the floor allowing them to focus their firefighting efforts on hot spots,” Bykowy says.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment is on scene and involved Envirotec to provide air quality monitoring through the night. The Ministry of Environment is conducting smoke plume modelling and particulate analysis to determine if the smoke presents a risk.

“Wind direction is forecast to be from the east northeast and to increase in intensity throughout the day,” Bykowy says. “Currently the wind is pushing the plume between the cities of Saskatoon and Martensville and is dispersing the concentration of the smoke. The risk remains minimal at this time.”

Earlier this morning the Incident Management Group met in the onsite mobile command post to re-evaluate and develop new strategies. This meeting included the Ministry of Environment and Provincial Emergency Management and Fire Safety.

The fire has destroyed buildings one and two. Our efforts are focused on getting the fire out and saving building three.

More details will follow as they are available.

The Saskatoon Fire Department, with the support of Warman Fire Rescue and the Martensville Fire Department, continue to battle a large fire at Shercom Industries north of Saskatoon in North Corman Park.

The fire originated in the east of three interconnected buildings.  It is used primarily as a warehouse for the storage of process materials, as well as a number of vehicles.  Fire Command believes the fire may have breached the separation wall and spread to the second building where a one day supply (approximately 20,000 lbs) of shredded rubber, 80 – 208-litre barrels of poly urethane and large quantities of finished products are housed.

Due to the nature of materials stored in the buildings, the toxicity of smoke is a serious concern.  Fortunately, the plume is travelling in a direction that does not impact any populated areas.  Saskatoon Fire will continue to monitor the situation through the night.

The Saskatoon Fire Department recognized that water conservation is extremely important in these types of incidents to minimize environmental impact; at this time all contaminated fire flow runoff is contained to the site.

Fires which are fueled by rubber are unusually difficult to extinguish, crews are prepared for a long duration incident.

The Saskatoon Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 7:02 pm in North Corman Park. Dispatchers recieved numerous calls of heavy smoke and flame coming from the building.

Three engine companies, two water tankers, and a brush truck responded to the scene within eight minutes. Initial crews found a structure fully involved with flame spreading to large piles of shredded tires. Firefighters on scene utilized foam application to assist with containment and extinguishment of the shredded tires.

After an initial size up, further apparatus were activated and dispatched to the scene. A Foam Truck, Rehabiltiation Unit, Command Vehicle, and extra support vehicles will assist with resource management. Warman Fire and Martensville Fire are working with the Saskatoon Fire Department to mitigate the incident.

The natural gas has been shuff off to the building and currently the fire is contained and has not spread to other buildings.

Media update will follow at 10:30 pm.