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City council will discuss motions this week to extend a public washroom project into 2025 and seek an update in March on the city’s homelessness plan.
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A motion on the agenda from Mayor Cynthia Block asks council to direct the city administration to come up with a process to gather public input on the plan.
Council may also discuss the possibility of forming a sub-committee “to activate partnerships to accelerate the plan,” according to the agenda for Wednesday’s regular council meeting.
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The city has created an encampment response plan to use federal funds earmarked for initiatives to reduce homelessness.
A 2024 point-in-time count identified about 1,500 people in Saskatoon without permanent shelter. The last count, in 2022, identified 550 people.
The plan includes a capital project valued at $4,483,122 — to be covered by the federal government — for supportive housing units with a community space, and a study for a potential community navigation centre.
The money will be allocated over two years and needs to be spent by March 31, 2026.
A motion from Ward 6 Coun. Jasmin Parker seeks to extend part of a public washroom project in 2024 that installed fully staffed public washrooms at Kiwanis Memorial Park with support from the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s Sawēyihtotān program. The project also funded a portable washroom trailer at the Central Urban Métis Federation’s (CUMFI) office on Avenue M.
If the motion passes, $239,000 will be pulled from capital expenditure reserves to extend the project to Dec. 31, 2025.
Parker’s motion also asks for the administration to report back on options for public washrooms before the 2026-27 budget deliberations later this year.
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