The City of Saskatoon has begun their annual street sweeping campaign.  On the first run, they quickly do the major roads in each neighbourhood to pick up as much gravel as they can.  After that, they begin the full residential street sweep.  This is when you see the door hangers asking you not to park out front on certain days. 

Please assist our crews by keeping vehicles off the road when asked, so we can pick up as much gravel as possible.  We remind drivers to stay back, and drive slowly near road maintenance equipment.

Click this link to see the 2012 Residential Street Sweeping Schedule, and find out when you can expect to see our crews in your neighbourhood.

Click this link to see photos from a webcam and monitor the construction of the new Saskatoon Police Headquarters.  Photos at this site are updated regularly, so that you can see how the work is progressing.  Construction is planned to be complete in late 2013. 

After a number of discussions with CN, we have reached an agreement that the 51st Street Railway crossing will be repaired April 13-15 (Friday-Sunday), with work beginning at 9 AM Friday morning.  This will be a major repair, so there will be a full road closure at that location for 3 days.  Public notices, warnings, and detour signs will be going up next week.  During construction, traffic will be diverted down Millar and Faithful to Circle Drive and 71st Street.  This work was originally scheduled to be done in 2011, but the project was delayed. 

The City of Saskatoon cannot repair railway crossings on our own, as they are the property of the railway.  We must negotiate with them, and coordinate a time for them to do the work.

Please avoid this area during the construction period, especially during rush hour on Friday.

The City of Saskatoon has produced a video presentation outlining two of the seven goals in the City's new Strategic Plan.  Watch this video to learn more about City Council's plan and the integrated approach to bulding the city. 

The 12 minute video higlights information on:

Click this link to watch the video on YouTube.

Many people have asked for an update on the construction that is taking place in Meewasin Park along Whiteswan Drive north of Lenore Drive.  The purpose of this project is to redo the inner lining of the sewer main that flows under Meewasin Park to the Waste Water Treatment Plant, because it will begin to deteriorate in the coming years.  The work will be done by April, and the park will be restored and reseeded this spring.  Click this link to watch a video describing the work being done.  

The City crews have attempted this "underground" re-lining a few times and have gotten the attention of the North American construction community, receiving an award for this cutting edge work. 

The citizens of Saskatoon have been asking for increased snow removal service.  As a result, Council increased the snow removal budget by $1 Million per year effective 2011 and onward.  We also added an additional $200 000 effective 2012 and onward. 

Currently, Saskatoon does not plow all residential streets.  After a snowfall we only do snow plowing and removal on major roads, and main ateries througout our neighbourhoods.  But there is currently a motion before Council to determine whether we should begin doing snow plowing or removal on all residential streets.  This will be debated during the budget process this fall. 

Please click this link to watch the video.  Then I invite you to send me an email and notify me of your preference.  Would you prefer:

The City of Saskatoon has been selected as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for 2012.  The award is announced in a special editorial supplement in today's edition of the Globe and Mail, and online at Eluta.ca.  This national competition evaluates organizatoins based on both, qualitative and quantitative, external and internal data and initiatives, as well as leadership on inclusion and diversity practices.    To see details on the city's website click this link.

The Municipal Wards Commission has approved new ward boundaries for the 2012 Civic Election.  There were no changes to Ward 5.  However, there are significant changes to Wards 1 & 6, with adjustments to Wards 4 & 10. 

The Municipal Wards Commission operates separate and apart from City Council.  By law, a review of the ward maps was required due to Saskatoon's rapid population growth.  Whenever the population of one or more wards has a variance of greater than 10% from the average, new wards must be drawn.  Click the pdf below to view the new Ward Map which will be used in the 2012 Civic Election.

2012 Revised Ward Boundary Map.pdf (728.73 kb)

City Council approved our 10 year Strategic Plan.  Click the pdf file below to see the strategic direction that City Council has decided to go for 2012-2022.  Our city is growing fast, so it is important for leadership to stay out in front and have a balanced growth plan that goes well into the future.

Strategic Plan 2012-2022.pdf (3.97 mb)

Saskatoon has received AAA credit rating for over 10 years in a row.  Standard and Poor's has completed their annual assessment and Saskatoon is only one of 3 cities in Canada to receive a AAA credit rating.  This independent third party assessment is important because an impartial financial assessor tells us how well we do in managing our finances, and how we compare to other cities in Canada.  Some quotes directly from the report:

Here's how Saskatoon compares with other cities in Canada...