News Releases

Saskatoon has been recognized by CDP as one of 95 cities across the globe, and one of only 7 Canadian cities, that are taking bold leadership on environmental action and transparency. 

CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states, and regions. Designed to encourage and support cities to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s Cities A List is based on environmental data disclosed by cities to their unified reporting system.   

To score an A, a city must disclose publicly and have a city-wide emissions inventory, have set an emissions reduction target and a renewable energy target for the future, and have published a climate action plan. It must also complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and have a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards. Many A List cities are also taking a variety of other leadership actions, including political commitment from a city’s Mayor to tackle climate change.  

“We’re proud to be among the 7 Canadian cities leading the way on climate action,” says Jeanna South, Director of Sustainability. “The actions in our Climate Action Plan guide the City and the community over the next 30 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make Saskatoon more resilient against the changing climate.” 

A List cities are taking twice as many mitigation and adaptation measures as non-A List cities, and also identify more than twice as many opportunities. Local examples include Saskatoon’s Home Energy Loan Program to help homeowners improve the energy performance of their homes, and the upcoming 2.2 MW Dundonald Avenue Solar Farm  to enable Saskatoon Light & Power to generate renewable electricity for their customers. 

“What gets measured, gets managed – Saskatoon is committed to managing its environmental risks and impact, and to building a safe and secure city for people to live and work in,” says Mayor Charlie Clark. “Disclosing information is a critical step towards taking the right action, and towards cities and governments at all levels developing the right climate change policies.” 

Saskatoon, and the other cities on this year’s A List, are also celebrated for showing that urgent and impactful climate action is achievable at a global level, and in cities with different climate realities and priorities. However, actions need to go further and faster to meet the new targets agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in Glasgow earlier this month.  

Visit cdp.net o view the full 2021 A List of cities and to find out more about this ambitious initiative. 

 

Environment and Climate Change Canada is forecasting a significant snowfall and high winds for Saskatoon starting Tuesday. Rain is expected to start this evening, which may result in slippery sidewalks as people head to work. City crews will be applying salt to keep freeways, intersections, on/off ramps and bridge decks from freezing.

“Fortunately, we are not staring down a storm like we experienced last year,” says Goran Saric, Director of Roadways, Fleet and Support. “However, there will still be lots of snow and strong winds which will create challenging driving conditions on Tuesday and into Wednesday. 

“Our crews are ready and will be out to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles and Saskatoon Transit, but we’re asking everyone to consider delaying non-essential trips outside of Saskatoon. If you need to travel, make sure you have a vehicle emergency kit and charged cell phone."

As the snow begins in Saskatoon Tuesday, City crews and equipment will plow Circle Drive and on/off ramps until the snow stops. Reduced visibility on Saskatoon streets may occur during the day Tuesday with combination of snow falling and wind up to 80 km/h into the evening.

Emergency Management Organization Director Pamela Goulden-McLeod says the Cold Weather Strategy for Saskatoon’s vulnerable is activated with warming shelters open for those who need them.

“Using a whole-community approach to emergency management there are over twenty organizations involved with the Cold Weather Strategy. These organizations, under the leadership of the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, work to make sure that individuals and families experiencing or at risk-of homelessness are aware of safe available sleeping options and warming locations."

Goulden-McLeod also reminds all residents and businesses that we each have a role to play in emergency planning and review winter storm planning to make sure they are prepared when it happens.  

High winds could create disruption in electrical service. Trees can sometimes contact with above-ground power lines causing breaks or downed lines.

“If a tree falls onto a line stay at least 10 metres or three car lengths away from it and stay away from other equipment that comes into contact with the line,” says Trevor Bell, Director of Saskatoon Light & Power. “If the line is on the ground, call 9-1-1 immediately and stay back.”

Ten to 15 cm of snow is expected, and a Snow Event will be declared once the snow stops. Contractor graders will join the City fleet in the priority street cleanup on freeways, arterial and collector streets, storing snow on medians, boulevards and in parking lanes. Specialized crews will clear City facility sidewalks, Meewasin Trail, park pathways with street lighting and bridge/overpass walkways at the same time. Given the forecast, it is very unlikely that the new Roadways Emergency Response Plan (PDF) will be triggered for this snow event. Activating the plan would be considered after a blizzard with snow accumulations of at least 25 centimetres and mobility reduced to the point light vehicles cannot drive on city streets, to add extra staffing and contractor resources for city-wide grading and snow removal.

Learn more about the City’s priority street grading plan at saskatoon.ca/snow. Look-up your address on the Street Grading Priority Streets map to see if snow grading happens on your street after a snow event. For Saskatoon Ligh & Power customers, refer to the new interactive power outage map if you experience an issue. 

Saskatoon Land and Inland Steel Products have reached an agreement on a parcel in the Marquis Industrial area which will lead to the relocation of the company’s current operations at Avenue P and 17th Street West. 

“Reaching this land agreement with Saskatoon Land creates the opportunity for our company to build a new headquarters and state-of-art metal recycling facility in Saskatoon, where our family business was formed 55 years ago,” says Matt Ditlove, President of Inland Steel Products. “This investment demonstrates our company’s continued commitment to serving the people of Saskatoon and surrounding area, and to the creation of additional jobs for our community.” 

The new expanded metal recycling facility on the Marquis lands will ensure a fast and stress-free experience for recycling scrap metal in Saskatoon, for both industrial vendors and individuals.  Furthermore, the state-of-the-art processing equipment will increase the company’s ability to recycle more volume and continue to grow the company’s ability to service clients throughout Saskatchewan.   
 
Mayor Charlie Clark says Inland’s decision demonstrates confidence in Saskatoon’s future, which is especially welcome as we come through the pandemic. 

“This project is a big win-win for the community and for Inland Steel.  It is a great commitment by Inland Steel to continue to grow this company and create good jobs right here in Saskatoon, as they expand their activities across the continent.  Moving their activities from Avenue P to the North Industrial will also reduce heavy industrial activity close to the homes and schools in that area, which has been a long term goal for the city.” 

The City had three parcels that total nearly 12.4 hectares (30.6 acres including a 10.7 ha or 26.4 acre industrial site) which had been held back from the market with the strategy that it would attract a heavy industrial buyer such as Inland Steel Products to foster expansion, relocation and job creation in the region. 

“These parcels are shovel-ready,” says Frank Long, Director of Saskatoon Land.  “All are fully serviced and immediately available for construction.” 

The land deal will set in motion the opportunity to have the current Inland Steel site rezoned for light industrial uses. 

“We’ve wanted to move away from heavy industrial uses in this area for many years,” says Director of Planning and Development, Lesley Anderson.  “With Inland’s eventual departure, future land use on the site as a light industrial use will be a better fit with the surrounding residential neighbourhoods.” 

Year-round school zones and the introduction of playground zones with reduced speed limits were endorsed at City Council’s Standing Policy Committee on Transportation today. City Council will debate the merits of the recommended options for these zones and vote at its November 22 meeting. 

City Council defeated The COVID-19 Gathering Bylaw, 2021 No.9782 on second reading at its meeting Friday, October 29, 2021. The bylaw was brought forward at the request of Council as an additional health and safety measure to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and attempt to diminish the strain that hospitals, medical staff and ICUs currently face.  

 

Council directed Administration to report back on recommended methods to share current COVID-19 data with residents, such as the modelling data presented to City Council at its meeting on October 25, 2021. The legend for the different scenarios as shown in the modelling data is below:

 

As a reminder, the current Provincial Public Health Orders in place impacting City facilities are as follows:

COVID-19 information can be found on the City’s website saskatoon.ca/covid-19, along with direct links to further factual and timely COVID-19 information on the Government of Saskatchewan and Government of Canada websites.

Saskatoon Light & Power (SL&P) has launched a new interactive power outage map, making it easier than ever for customers to access and view outage information. 

“While our crews are troubleshooting and repairing an outage, we’re committed to keeping customers informed in the easiest, most helpful way,” says Trevor Bell, Director of SL&P. “Service alerts issued on Twitter and on the City website are the primary form of communication for outages, but now the map will also be included with the alerts making it easier to see the area impacted, cause, and estimated time of repair.”  

Outages are either identified from data notification from the electrical system (i.e. smart meters) or through calls from customers. Crews are then dispatched to determine the cause of the outage, and then isolate the issue and complete the repair. Outages may involve minor work, such as trimming trees away from power lines, or much larger tasks such as replacing broken poles, faulty cables, or damaged transformers. Repair work can take minutes or up to several hours.  

“Prior to the power outage map, the impacted outage area was written in a service alert, but since the outage area usually does not follow neighbourhood boundaries it can be difficult to describe the affected area accurately,” says Bell. “While the written information will still be provided, the new map will be a better visual representation of the outage area and will be especially helpful in the event of planned outages.” 

Bell adds that Saskatoon Light & Power’s index of reliability in 2020 was 0.9998, which means that power was delivered to the average customer 99.98% of the time. 

Saskatoon Light & Power provides power to over 60,000 properties within its service area. All customers outside of the service area should refer to the SaskPower website for any outage related information. 

Visit saskatoon.ca/outages for more information on the new power outage map and for power outage tips.