News

As the fires in northern Saskatchewan continue, the SUMA (SUMA) offers words of support to affected communities and residents. Our northern communities have many strong leaders, who are working extremely hard on behalf of their communities. Many of our other members are also to be commended for their cooperation and support. "SUMA applauds everyone who has reached a hand out to their…

Today, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) launched a new program to help municipalities better understand, navigate and reduce the barriers to brownfield redevelopment. FCM unveiled the program at the Canadian Brownfields Network’s annual conference in Toronto, ON. A brownfield is an abandoned, underused or contaminated commercial, institutional or industrial property where…

Congratulations to the City of North Battleford on winning a national municipal environment award for your biosolids management program. The Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) presented its 2015 CAMA Environment Award, in the under 20,000 population category, last week. See more details in this video.

This morning, SUMA sent out a special edition President's Update to alert our members about a new infrastructure grant program. The program opened yesterday and closes Wednesday, June 17, so we want to be sure all Saskatchewan urban municipalities have a chance to apply for this program. The program will invest $150 million over two years in projects that rehabilitate or improve cultural and…

Congratulations to the 14 urban municipalities and one RM that received funding from the province through the Community Airport Partnership (CAP). The funds – part of a cost-shared program – will be delivered to: Carlyle; Gravelbourg; Kindersley; Kipling; Luseland; Maple Creek; Moose Jaw; North Battleford; Shellbrook; Swift Current; Tisdale; Unity; …

The 2014 bylaw in the City of Prince Albert prohibiting taxi-cabs from going through drive-thru liquor outlets has been upheld in the Saskatchewan court of appeal. Read the CBC story for more details.

Today, representatives from municipal associations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba met in Regina to discuss issues of common interest. The associations represent urban and rural municipalities across the Prairie provinces. For more details, read the full media release.

Registration is open for the Town Sector Meeting, held May 12 and 13 in Regina. The draft agenda is available, and Policy Advisor Sean McKenzie is taking suggestions, should you have a topic you'd like to see discussed.

April 2 is National Employee Benefits Day, and Great West Life – the provider SUMA contracts for many of our group benefits plans – has created several videos on benefits that you may enjoy. Take a few minutes today to learn more. Why care about your benefits? How to sign up for GroupNet for Plan Members and direct deposit How to submit an online claim How to review your…

From our smallest villages to our big cities, urban municipalities across Saskatchewan applaud today’s announcement that the provincial government will honour their promise to share one point of the PST with municipalities. The SUMA (SUMA) welcomes this announcement, after months of uncertainty for our hundreds of member municipalities. For more information, read our full media release on…

At Convention 2013, Mayor Debra Button was elected the first female president of SUMA. While she was in Saskatoon for Convention 2015, Jenn Sharp from The StarPhoenix and Bridges newspapers interviewed her for a profile. The article was published this morning, and President Button covers topics from her life as a woman in municipal politics to her role as the voice for Saskatchewan's urban…

Hundreds of delegates from towns, villages, cities, and northern municipalities across Saskatchewan gathered last week in Saskatoon for a whirlwind of excitement at SUMA’s 110th Annual Convention. Along with a rousing President’s Address from President Debra Button, there were many highlights: The involvement of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations’ Acting Chief Kimberly…

Late last week, amidst news that the provincial government is considering cuts to municipal revenue sharing, SUMA President Debra Button talked with Premier Brad Wall via phone. This article on Discover Weyburn explains more.

As falling oil prices tightens the provincial budget, Premier Brad Wall has gone on record saying that cuts to the Municipal Operating Grant (also known as revenue sharing) are "on the table" for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Read the full article on the Leader-Post website. SUMA will continue to work with the provincial government to remind them of some the tenets of the agreement that we…

The Building Standards and Licensing Branch of the Ministry of Government Relations is hosting free workshops around the province from January 14-April 22. The workshops will provide information related to the building and fire code requirements for small care homes that accommodate 10 or fewer total occupants. The presentation will include information related to whether occupants in care are…