News Releases

A facility upgrade has begun at Lakewood Civic Centre that includes replacement of windows and heaters in the pool area.  This project will make the building more energy efficient and is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Lakewood Civic Centre will remain open throughout the upgrade; however, there will be short term closures to the waterslide and portions of the pool. 

At this time the following closures have been scheduled:
April 11 to 14: The waterslide will be closed while construction hoarding is being built near the waterslide. 

For up to date facility information, follow @YXEServiceAlert on Twitter or visit saskatoon.ca/service-alerts and saskatoon.ca/lakewood.

For the 14^th consecutive year, the City of Saskatoon has won the Canadian Award for Financial Reporting (CAnFR) from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada.

The CAnFR award, presented for the City’s 2020 Annual Report, represents a significant accomplishment for municipal government and its financial management. The award recognizes the City’s commitment to high standards and excellence in financial transparency and accountability.

“We are committed to financial transparency and openly communicating to the citizens of Saskatoon with full disclosure in our annual reporting,” says Kari Smith, Director of Finance. “We are proud to receive this award and proud of our employees who are dedicated to making the City of Saskatoon a leader in producing high-quality financial reports year after year.”

The City’s 2020 Annual Report has been judged by impartial Canadian Review Committee members to meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” designed to clearly communicate the municipality’s financial story and to motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.   

The Canadian Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting Program (CAnFR) was established to encourage municipal governments across Canada to publish high-quality financial reports and to provide peer recognition and technical guidance for officials preparing these reports.

Visit saskatoon.ca to view additional financial reports from the City of Saskatoon.

*This report includes road restrictions on Priority 1 (high traffic, high speed) streets only.

NEW

No projects are scheduled to start on Priority 1 streets on this date.

ONGOING

1ST AVE N SB LANES CLOSED FROM 25TH ST E TO 24TH ST E
(Crane lift)
Two-way traffic will be maintained in NB lanes
Start: April 6, 8:00 a.m. End: April 8, 4:30 p.m.

All restrictions will be lifted as indicated, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.

For more information about current road restrictions and construction, visit saskatoon.ca/construction.

The National Day of Remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge is held on April 9.  In recognition, flags at all City of Saskatoon facilities will be flown at half-mast to honour and remember those who fought.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917 was the first time that Canadians from coast to coast fought in a battle together against a common enemy and is considered by many to be a turning point for our country and the beginning of Canada’s march towards nationhood.

The City’s two compost depots are set to open in time for spring clean-up. Residents are invited to drop off leaves, grass, sod, topsoil, garden refuse, pumpkins, and non-elm branches, stumps and tree trimmings at no cost. This helps keep yard waste out of the Landfill and produces high-quality, nutrient-rich compost and mulch used in Saskatoon’s parks and community gardens.

The West Compost Depot is open 7 days a week, including statutory holidays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:50 p.m. Residents should take note that there will be restricted access to the West Compost Depot beginning Monday, April 11 to help reduce traffic congestion and ensure safe access for visitors. The depot will only be accessible from the Highway 7 southbound, with no access permitted from the Highway 7 and 11^th Street intersection. Detour signs will be in place to assist with traffic flow.

Residents also have access to the East Compost Depot located on Highway 5 for drop-off only. The East Compost Depot is open 5 days a week, Thursday through Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday) from 11:00 a.m. to 4:50 p.m.

All loads must be covered when transported within City limits to prevent debris from blowing off vehicles (Waste Bylaw #8310).

The City Compost Depots do NOT accept elm wood, sawdust, treated and untreated lumber, building materials, garbage, or any animal waste/litter. Food waste is also NOT accepted for drop-off at the compost depots; some food items can be placed in Green Carts or composted at home.

For more information on the City’s Compost Depots, please visit Saskatoon.ca/compostdepots.

The vendor of the City’s current pay parking application (app), WayToPark, will be releasing a new app in June called Parkedin. Beginning July 1, Parkedin will officially replace WayToPark as the City’s app-based parking payment service.  

The Parkedin app will be available for public download and use starting June 1. Both WayToPark and Parkedin will be available in tandem during a transition period from June 1 to June 30, 2022.

The new Parkedin app will operate and function similar to the WayToPark app, with some additional features such as the ability to pay for parking by scanning a QR code on the nearest pay station as well as support for debit payments. 

“Our Parking Services team is looking forward to the implementation of the new app to provide an improved offering for customers and to ensure that there is no service disruption.” says Matt Grazier, Director of Community Standards. 

A report on proposed amendments to the Traffic Bylaw to facilitate usage of the new app will be presented to the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation on Monday, April 11. 
For more information on Pay Parking, visit saskatoon.ca/payparking.

The City of Saskatoon has released its 2021 preliminary year-end financials showing a $6.54 million deficit in the civic operating programs and a $12.25 million surplus in the utility programs, before year-end audit confirmation.

Although last year brought ongoing change and uncertainty, the City remained dedicated to the delivery of core services residents rely on while continuing to find corporate-wide savings and reduce overall spending. Through the saving strategy, the City reduced training budgets and carefully examined discretionary spending to help make up for reduced revenue and other budget pressures arising from the pandemic. Fuel savings also helped reduce the deficit.

Under provincial law, municipalities are not allowed to operate with a deficit. On April 12, 2022, the City Administration will present a report to the Standing Policy Committee on Finance (7.2.4) that sets out the City’s financial strategy to offset this deficit.

“The preliminary $6.54 million deficit represents a variance of just over one per cent from the City’s overall Civic Operating Budget of $546.6 million,” says Director of Finance, Kari Smith. “Our shortfall is largely the result of snow & ice removal costs resulting from the November 2020 blizzard, higher than anticipated Information Technology costs, and lower than budgeted operating revenues. I’m confident in the well-laid financial plan and strategy Administration is recommending to address the preliminary deficit, and importantly, it won’t impact our future service delivery to residents.”

The Administration is recommending the deficit of $6.54 million be funded by:

• $3.71 million from the reallocation of Canada Community Building Funds originally put into contingency for this specific purpose;
• $1.72 million through a one-time increase from the Water Utility Return on Investment (ROI); and
• $1.11 million to be transferred from the Fiscal Stabilization Reserve. 

“While the City has continued to face significant non-tax revenue challenges in user fees and our other forms of revenue have remained flat or decreased year over year, it is important to recognize that several of our businesses also achieved surpluses in 2022 including Saskatoon Light & Power and Saskatoon Water,” Smith says.

2021 Preliminary Year-end Yields Surplus Utility-Related Results

• Saskatoon Light & Power (SL&P) reported a surplus of $4.49 million. 
• Saskatoon Water reported a year-end surplus of $3.63 million. 
• Wastewater Utility reported a year-end surplus of $2.74 million.
• Storm Water Management Utility reported a year-end surplus of $345,485.
• Waste Services Utility reported a year-end surplus of $1.04 million.

In addition to the utility posted surpluses:

• the Police Board was under budget by $860,000, this is included in the preliminary year-end deficit.
• SaskTel Centre and TCU Place posted preliminary deficits of $3.96 million and $3.37 million respectively, to be balanced through contributions from their facility and capital reserves. 
• Remai Modern posted a preliminary surplus of $310,526.

The City’s Financial Position Remains Future Healthy

The City’s overall and future financial standing continues to be strong and sound, having its ‘AAA’/Stable credit rating reaffirmed by S&P Global in January 2022. In planning for a bright and sustainable future, the City is committed to finding year-over-year increased operational efficiencies, creating greater savings across the organization and recovering from the financial impact of COVID-19.

The external audit of the 2021 financial statements is expected to be completed in June 2022. Following the external audit, the audited financial statements will be presented to City Council for approval.  At that time, the year-end financial results will be confirmed or adjusted based on the recommendations of the external audit and presented in the 2021 Annual Report later this year.