News Releases

Residential street sweeping starts on Monday, May 7 for up to seven weeks through 56 neighbourhoods. In addition to positing bright yellow No Parking signs ahead of sweeping, the City is inviting people to search their sweep day by address to plan ahead.

“It’s really important for people to move their vehicles by 7 a.m. on their sweeping day so we can properly sweep the area,” says Brandon Harris, Director of Roadways & Operations. “This new search function is designed to make it easy for people to plan ahead and avoid parking on a street scheduled for sweeping.”

After a successful pilot project in 2017, priority streets through neighbourhoods with high on-street parking were fully swept in April, leaving these areas free for parking when the surrounding streets are scheduled. 

“There are fewer vehicles relocated each year as people become familiar with the signs and we can offer alternative streets for parking,” says Harris. “Even so, too many people are ignoring the No Parking signs and the last thing we want to have to do is ticket and tow residents so we can do a good job.”   

In order to sweep streets from curb to curb, vehicles left on the street are relocated to a nearby location, which may be outside of their neighbourhood or on a previously swept street. The driver then has to locate their vehicle and pay a $100 parking violation.

If your vehicle is relocated, you can use the Find My Vehicle! search function or contact the 24-hour customer service centre at 306-975-2476.

Search your sweep day and find other information about street sweeping at saskatoon.ca/sweeping. Street Sweeping Service Alerts will be issued if there is a change to the residential sweeping schedule.

As of January 1, 2018, China, which buys approximately two-thirds of North America's recyclables, set new standards which prohibit the importation of recovered paper bales that are overly contaminated with plastic film (stretchy plastics such as bags and wrap).

The resulting decrease in market options and increased demand for higher quality recyclable materials means that Saskatoon’s recyclers cannot sell all the material that they are collecting and are instead stockpiling a substantial portion.

“Soft stretchable plastics too easily end up in bales of paper and cardboard which is the cause of the contamination that will no longer meet China’s standards.” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental and Corporate Initiatives. “By eliminating plastic film from our recycling program we are able to ensure our other materials, such as paper and cardboard – which make up 76 per cent of our recyclable materials – are still meeting global standards and can continue to be recycled.”

To help explain the new change to the program, a communications campaign launched April 30, 2018.  It promotes tips for reducing the use of plastic film while encouraging the use of reusable products such as cloth bags, and hard plastic and glass containers.

With the recognition plastic film can’t be avoided sometimes, the campaign also promotes some helpful tips for re-using bags and film to keep it from being a one-time use item.

The recycling campaign supports the Strategic Goal of Environmental Leadership and the City’s target of diverting 70% of waste by 2023.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.

• 2017 - The SASF program was featured as an international case study by the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP)
• 2017 - St. Volodymyr School’s participating grade 7/8 class received the Rob Dumont Energy Management Education Award
• 2016 - St. Anne School’s participating grade 8 class received the Rob Dumont Energy Management Youth Award
• 2013 - The SASF program received a Regional Centre for Expertise Award for Education for Sustainable Development
• 2013 - The SASF program received the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council Waste Minimization Award for Youth/Schools

Warm weather has arrived after a long winter and is now causing ice on the City’s lakes and ponds to deteriorate or rot. The Saskatoon Fire Department now asks people to stay off the ice since it may be unstable.

Assistant Chief Wayne Rodger says Saskatoon Fire Department staff have evaluated the ice conditions and have determined the ponds are no longer safe for recreational use.

“The degradation we’re observing along the shoreline could make access treacherous,” Rodger says.  “Once the ice starts to deteriorate -- as it has this year -- the thickness of the ice is no longer an indication of its strength.”

He says with warmer temperatures, several different factors come into play to make the ice unstable:

• When the snow cover melts, the sunlight and solar radiation travels through clear ice and is absorbed by the water below causing it to warm.  Through this process the ice melts from the bottom up. The solar radiation causes ice crystals to deteriorate dramatically weakening the ice.  Because this happens from the bottom up, even ice that appears stable may not be safe.

• When water pools on top of the ice, perhaps from the melting snow cover, it will be warmer than the ice and again allow solar radiation to travel through the ice causing it to melt faster.

• When water is moving above or below the ice surface, such as the inflows to our storm retention ponds from attached to storm sewers, ice will weaken. In the same way, river currents constantly affect the quality of the ice on the river making it unstable and dangerous for use.

The Saskatoon Fire Department again reminds residents to never go on the river ice and asks them to stay off the ice on the city’s lakes and ponds for the remainder of the 2018 season.

The City wants to warn residents about a phone scam involving someone pretending to be from City Utility Collections.

The City has received phone calls and e-mails from concerned customers.  The customers report they have all received the same phone call with someone making a claim their utility bill is overdue and their service will be disconnected.

The calls appear to be coming from a 1-800 number. Although the City has a 1-800 utilities customer service number, the City does not call customers from that number.

The City only disconnects service after the customer receives a written notice and if accounts are not kept current

Do not give credit card numbers or other banking information over the phone if contacted this way.

To confirm the identity of a City of Saskatoon Utility Collections employee, please call Utility Collections in Revenue Division by calling 306-975-2405 or 1-800-667-9944.

Anyone who receives a suspicious call of this nature is encouraged to attend to the Saskatoon Police Service (located at 76 – 25^th St E) and speak with an officer to leave a report.

Thanks to warm temperatures this week, roads are drying up enough for street sweeping and pothole repairs. With late snowfalls, these road maintenance programs are three to four weeks behind the average year.

“Today is our first day with hot-mix asphalt and City crews are already a few loads in,” says Brandon Harris, Director of Roadways & Operations. “We have utility cuts to maintain, countless potholes to repair, and six weeks of priority-street sweeping to complete before residential sweeping begins on May 7.”

Over the next two weeks, City crews will be working longer days and through the weekend to repair potholes beginning with those at highest-risk for causing injury or damage. Citizens will also notice sweeping along priority streets, business improvement districts, and on medians and boulevards.

“We are operating at maximum staffing and equipment capacity and expect unprecedented progress for sweeping and pothole repairs,” says Harris. “However, roads in general will still be bumpy and dusty on secondary roads for a few weeks because of this late start to spring road maintenance.”

In addition to sweeping and pothole repairs, the City is maintaining more than 1,000 utility cuts with gravel until they can be permanently repaired beginning next week. Citizens can report dangerous locations to our Customer Service Centre and continue to report potholes on our Report-a-Pothole app to help the City prioritize repairs.

City-wide residential street sweeping will begin May 7, weather permitting. Bright yellow No Parking signs will be posted in neighbourhoods 36-48 hours in advance of street sweeping, followed up with ticketing and relocation towing. At the same time, City crews will be permanently repairing potholes with a hot mix asphalt.  

Visit saskatoon.ca/betterroads to report a pothole and for street sweeping schedules and information on spring road maintenance programs.

Following the 2018-2019 Provincial Budget reinstatement of the SaskEnergy Grant-in-Lieu of taxes (GIL), City Council is in the position to reduce residential property taxes by nearly a single percentage. 

“This is most definitely a positive development,” says Kerry Tarasoff, Chief Financial Officer. “Anytime we can ease the load on the property tax is most welcome.” 

Instead of traditional property taxes, the provincial government has paid the City GIL for property and rights-of-way on which SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and TransGas operate within Saskatoon.   

Last spring, the 2017-2018 Provincial Budget eliminated the provincial utility GIL to municipalities. This left the City with a $11.4 million shortfall.  

The combined negative impact to the City’s 2017 and 2018 budgets due to the loss of the SaskEnergy GIL was $5.72 million. 

Through careful planning, spending and cost reductions, just $2.66 million of that was passed onto taxpayers.  

“With the Province re-establishing the GIL for SaskEnergy, we’re able to replace three-quarters of that amount this year and apply the rest for next year’s budget,” Tarasoff says. 

Tarasoff says that translates to a 0.91% property tax reduction, bringing the 2018 rate to 3.79%. 

The 3.79% increase means a typical single-family home with an assessed value of $371,000 will pay an additional $5.50 per month or $66 for the year.  

In an effort to move to a model based on higher frequency, Saskatoon Transit is pleased to announce service changes to better meet the needs of citizens. Saskatoon Transit will continue to offer high frequency service along main corridors with the addition of ten minute frequency along Preston Avenue and Attridge Drive up to Nelson Road/Lowe Road.

“It is encouraging to see increased ridership levels in the 2017 Saskatoon Transit Annual Report,” says Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit. “With the service changes we are making to improve the frequency, people are recognizing transit as a viable option. Connecting the northeast corner of the city with higher frequency is another step towards bus rapid transit (BRT).”

The more frequent service will apply throughout weekdays with thirty minute frequency during evenings, weekends and statutory holidays. These service changes will take effect on July 1, 2018. It is anticipated these improvements will have a major impact on the way residents in this area use Saskatoon Transit.

The goals of these service improvements are to provide more convenient and quicker daily commutes, drastically reduce wait times, improve reliability and reduce travel time.

“We continue to make transit a convenient option for Saskatoon residents,” says McDonald. “High frequency service to more areas of the city will provide superior service along high demand corridors.” 

All of the new and altered routes can be viewed at SaskatoonTransit.ca. A public engagement session will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2018 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at The Alice Turner Library. New routes will be on display and attendees will have the opportunity to hear about future transit service and ask any questions they may have.  

“This is the public’s chance to provide feedback on how the new routes will affect their commute”, says McDonald. “We hope residents and our current rider base will come out and let us know what they think.”

A short survey is also available at SaskatoonTransit.ca asking residents how the service changes affect them.   

While mass casualty incidents (MCI) are rare in Canada, our community needs to be prepared.  To that end, the Saskatoon Police Service Foundation (SPSF) is pleased to help provide funding for ballistic vests and helmets for firefighters, who are always on the front line in such an incident.

“Firefighters are often confronted with dangerous situations when they respond to calls,” says Vera Pezer, President of the SPSF.  “They are frequently working alongside police and ambulance service personnel when a high degree of risk is involved.”

A recent MCI training scenario revealed the need for additional protective equipment in the form of ballistic vests and helmets for Saskatoon Fire Department Primary Care Paramedics.  The foundation has committed $10 thousand in funding.

“We’re grateful for this generous support,” says Fire Chief Morgan Hackl. “In order for us to do our job in the ‘hot zone’ during a mass casualty incident, our paramedics need to have the equipment that will help us help others.”

The SPS Foundation is an incorporated, not-for-profit, community-led organization. It is dedicated to raising funds to support projects that contribute to community safety.

“We have seen mass casualty incidents occur regularly around the world”, said Police Chief Troy Cooper.  “While Saskatoon has not had a similar incident, this initiative will allow for enhanced cooperation with our partners in response to crisis.” 

The proceeds of its annual SPS Foundation Half Marathon, being held on April 29, will go towards this initiative.

For more information on the Saskatoon Police Foundation, visit https://saskatoonpoliceservicefoundation.org/.