City of Saskatoon exploring feedback and options for possible homelessness levy

With city budget deliberations just a couple of weeks away, the City of Saskatoon is now also exploring the idea of whether residents are open to paying additional “fees” or even a levy of some kind to address homelessness and housing-related issues.

The idea was floated by Mayor Cynthia Block on the Evan Bray Show in early October to see what listeners’ feedback might be.

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“Would people be willing to pay extra for having a housing and homelessness levy?” she asked Bray on the air.

She followed up the question by indicating that there could be “big increases” and suggested that “something different” may have to be done to address increasing and chronic homelessness in Saskatoon.

“Is that something that residents would be willing, if it’s targeted, to support? Making sure that people have a place to be, and a place to be housed. I think I’d be interested to know if that’s something that residents are considering,” she said on the show.

Days later, during a news conference at “The Hadley,” an affordable housing project nearing completion in the Forest Grove area of Saskatoon, Block denied the idea would be forwarded as an official motion for council’s consideration.

“That is not my intention,” she said.

But she added the city was also trying to figure out how to address the growing issue.

“Residents feel that that’s a provincial government responsibility, but it’s in our back yard. And how do we be good partners with the province and still manage to stay in our lanes. But at the end of the day, the impact of people who are unhoused isn’t just to them. It affects every single one of us,” she added.

The city’s 2025 “Civic Satisfaction and Performance Survey,” report showed that 398 randomly selected residents were polled between July 11 and Sept. 2. It indicated that nearly four in five respondents said the city should allocate more resources to address homelessness.

The report was presented at the Nov. 12 Governance and Priorities Committee meeting by Carla Blumers, director of communications and public engagement. She said the three most important issues facing the city in 2025 were homelessness, crime and public safety, and housing — so extra questions were added on those topics to this year’s survey.

“Seventy-three percent support allocating more resources to address homelessness. And 63 per cent are willing to contribute financially,” she said.

The options for payment included five dollars to nine dollars per month, $10 to $15 per month, $15 dollars per month or more, and less than five dollars per month.

The report information did not make it clear whether the additional monies suggested would be in the form of an additional levy, or whether they would be allocated through funds the city already has received from the provincial or federal governments.

Ahead of the same committee meeting, Ward 3 Coun. Robert Pearce also informally polled residents on his Facebook page, through Survey Monkey.

During the last civic election in 2024, Coun. Pearce campaigned on a promise to have the Fairhaven wellness centre re-located, and to address increasing crime, safety and vandalism in his ward.

Coun. Pearce asked his constituents two questions:

“Are you willing to pay another monthly fee to the city each month to address homelessness?” and,

“Would you support a monthly fee for residents and businesses in low-impact areas of the city specifically for the purpose of helping to reimburse the residents and business owners who are currently bearing the highest costs and burdens due to homelessness-related damages and crime?”

When contacted about an interview to elaborate on the second question, Coun. Pearce told 650 CKOM he was on vacation for several days and would not be able to respond until early next week.

However, during the committee meeting, he took aim at the first question and the city survey results.

“What I hear from my constituents in Ward 3 is vastly different than the results of this survey,” he said, adding that that he believed the lines of responsibility between the federal, provincial, and municipal government would be blurred.

“It concerns me that we’re taking a fee to help in homelessness and how that fee would be divvied out or what have you,” he said.

Pearce said residents in his constituency already have paid significantly because of thefts, vandalism, and clean up fees.

At this point, there have been no motions from any councillor or report from city administration recommending additional fees or a levy on top of current property taxes or utility fees.