SaskatoonThe proposed 2026-2029 strategic plan released Aug. 18 adds housing and homelessness to list of priorities.Housing and homelessness added as top priorityJeremy Warren · CBC News · Posted: Aug 18, 2025 6:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 18Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Blocks holds up a copy of the city’s draft 2026-2029 strategic plan, which was made public on Monday so people could give feedback about the city’s top priorities before the document is finalized. (Jeremy Warren/CBC)The City of Saskatoon is ready to set the direction of council and staff for the next four years, but first it wants the public to weigh-in on the priorities.Mayor Cynthia Block met with reporters on Monday to unveil the proposed 2026-2029 strategic plan and a public survey asking people for feedback on the draft document. She said the survey results will help fine-tune the plan before it’s finalized.”The strategic plan is not a static document,” Block said.”It is a living road map that guides our decisions.… This is your chance to help ensure the plan actually reflects Saskatoon’s values, needs and aspirations.”The 30-page draft plan and the public survey are now available on the city’s website. People have until Sept. 19 to submit feedback.Much of the new plan overlaps with the priorities in the expiring 2022-2025 strategic plan, but there are some additions. Each priority comes with a list of expected outcomes and potential actions to take, if they’re not already underway.The new plan adds housing and homelessness as a top priority, along with core services. Some priorities carrying over from the last plan include community safety, the downtown, economic development and transportation.The strategic plan is a roadmap that helps keep city council and city administration moving in the same direction, said Carla Blumers, the city’s director of communications and public engagement.”Whatever [city administration is] proposing to bring forward, there’s always a checkpoint back to the strategic plan to make sure those are some of the priorities of city council,” Blumers said.The plan also sets out some “high-performance organization” goals for city administration, such as enhancing customer experience.Blumers said the survey should take about five to seven minutes to fill out and includes some open-ended questions so people can add comments.The draft plan could be tweaked to reflect the public’s comments after the survey results are compiled.Block said she’s leading the new housing and homelessness priority, which in previous plans fell under community safety and well-being.”We heard on the doorstep loud and clear that it is the single greatest issue our city faces,” Block said, adding that she doesn’t expect the strategic plan will have to change much.”For city council in particular, we’ve just come off an election and we’ve heard what people are saying to us on the doors.… I feel like this strengthens the previous document and really targets the areas that we heard about most.”ABOUT THE AUTHORJeremy Warren is a reporter in Saskatoon. You can reach him at jeremy.warren@cbc.ca.
City of Saskatoon seeks public input on draft 4-year strategic plan
