SaskatoonThe budget for the organic waste project has increased to $30.5 million from $22.1 million, but the difference will be covered by an $8.4-million grant from the federal Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund.City hall officials say a facility owned and operated by the city is still the best bargainPhil Tank · CBC News · Posted: Dec 02, 2025 3:11 PM EST | Last Updated: December 2Listen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The City of Saskatoon’s general manager of utilities and environment, Angela Gardiner, speaks at the meeting of city council’s environment, utilities and corporate services committee on Tuesday. (City of Saskatoon)The cost of a project to build a facility to process Saskatoon’s organic waste has skyrocketed by millions and, as a result, it will be delayed a year.But a compost facility built and operated by city hall still represents the best deal for taxpayers, a city council committee heard Tuesday.A previous plan to contract a private company to build and run a facility in the Rural Municipality of Corman Park to process the material collected by Saskatoon’s green cart program collapsed when the RM council rejected the proposal.The budget for the project has increased to $30.5 million from $22.1 million, but the difference will be covered by an $8.4-million grant from the federal Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund.“I guess what I worry about is that we’re living in this ever-escalating run to see how much things can go up and it’s obviously not a sustainable plan,” Mayor Cynthia Block said at the environment, utilities and corporate services committee meeting.The city’s general manager of environment and utilities, Angela Gardiner, explained that all bids on the project came in higher than the approved cost. Brendan Lemke, the city’s director of water and waste operations, said the local bidders were “very unfamiliar” with construction of compost facilities and that resulted in higher bids.“So we’re dealing with risk more than inflation,” Block observed.Gardner explained that a city-run facility will save the city about $1 million a year in operational costs compared to contracting it out to a private company. A city report says nearly 10 new full-time employees will be hired to run the compost facility.The committee endorsed expanding the project’s price tag. Council must now render final approval.The plant was supposed to be completed next year near the Saskatoon landfill, but construction is now expected to begin in the spring with completion pegged for sometime in 2027.Gardiner said only one private company exists that could build and run a plant in the Saskatoon region, although she did not name the company. Green Prairie Environmental, which operates a landfill in Corman Park, was originally contracted by the city to expand its operations in the RM to accommodate the composting facility and to operate the plant.The city’s east compost depot closed last year and the west compost depot will close once the new facility is operating.Saskatoon’s green cart program collects organic waste from single-family homes to divert material from the landfill. (Warren Kay/CBC)Carbon confusionThe fate of the federal industrial carbon tax remains muddy, but all Saskatoon electricity customers will continue to benefit so long as it’s suspended by the province.The committee unanimously approved continuing to suspend the carbon charge on electricity bills for Saskatoon Light & Power customers who live within Circle Drive. SaskPower, the provincial Crown corporation, serves those who live in the suburbs.In April, Premier Scott Moe announced he was pausing collection of the federal tax to make Saskatchewan the first carbon-tax-free province. Council voted to follow suit for Saskatoon Light & Power, which habitually adheres to SaskPower rates.Trevor Bell, the director of Saskatoon Light & Power, said it’s unclear how long the province’s pause on collecting the carbon tax will last. He noted the federal government is talking about a new industrial carbon price regime.The ongoing suspension, which must still get final approval from city council, would last until the end of next year, barring any change in the province’s stance.The pause is expected to save the average customer about $10.46 a month, but could result in a deficit at the utility of $476,400 at the end of next year.ABOUT THE AUTHORPhil Tank is an award-winning journalist based in Saskatoon. He can be reached at phil.tank@cbc.ca.
Rising costs delay plan for Saskatoon compost facility
