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The City of Saskatoon wants to borrow a lot more money for future projects, some of which may still be several years away.
According to a report going to city council on Wednesday, the city now has a debt limit of $973 million. That, however, doesn’t mean the entire amount will be used right now. The notice for several projects at next week’s meeting totals about $125 million.
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The money will go towards a variety of infrastructure-related projects, including up to $69,750,000 for the water treatment plant capital program, up to $29,076,000 for the transit implementation plan, $9 million for a new water main projects and $7,750,000 for indoor recreation facilities projects, to name a few.
Administration also wants to keep “an allowable 10% variance on the borrowing requirements for each project identified,” according to the report, which was written by Jeremy Meinema, a senior financial business partner with the City of Saskatoon, and approved by Clae Hack, Saskatoon’s chief financial officer.
According to Hack, “as (of) December 31, 2025; the City expects to have approximately $282.6 million in outstanding debt and forecasts debt to grow to approximately $814 million by 2031 largely driven by major projects such as the Water Treatment Plant Expansion.”
On top of the $282.6 million, the city also approved another $194.6 million in borrowing for the new central library, utilities, the Link transit plan and for other capital projects.
The request to increase the city’s debt limit first came to the city council in late August, but needed approval from the Saskatchewan Municipal Board before going to city council. That approval was granted on Nov. 6.
According to the provincial government, the municipal board is “an administrative tribunal established for regulatory and quasi-judicial purposes in dealing with issues from local authorities.”
The city noted that the actual borrowing may not happen for several years. Borrowing terms and conditions, repayment schedules and interest rates also won’t be known until closer to the time when the funds are needed.
The August report noted that the additional borrowing request does not include any money going towards the downtown event and entertainment district project (DEED), which includes a new arena in the city’s core.
“When the DEED proceeds, and depending on the final approved funding plan, an additional increase to the borrowing limit may need to be considered at that time,” the report noted.
The last time the city’s debt limit was increased was in 2014.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story suggested Saskatoon council needed to approve a debt-limit increase. That increase has already been approved during budget deliberations and by the Saskatchewan Municipal Board.
