Municipal Update: March 23, 2020

For the health and safety of Municipalities of Saskatchewan employees, the Municipalities of Saskatchewan office is closed to the public, and many of our employees are working from home.

We will continue to help you through all our normal channels and will do our best to handle your calls or emails in a timely matter.

COVID-19

Have Your Questions Answered in the Webinar COVID-19 Panel: Preparing your Community

Municipalities of Saskatchewan is bringing together a panel of industry experts in crisis management, emergency preparedness, employment law, and municipal law to answer your municipal questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 25 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. , Municipalities of Saskatchewan will host:

Suzanne Bernier of SB Crisis Consulting;
Trevor Legette, Emergency Services Officer, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency;
Troy Baril, partner with Miller Thomson;
Amy Groothuis, partner with Miller Thomson; and
Sean Bryden, partner with Miller Thomson.

Come prepared with your questions. Sponsored by SUMAssure, this forum is open to all Saskatchewan municipalities.

What the Provincial State of Emergency Means for Municipalities

The Government of Saskatchewan declared a province-wide state of emergency on March 18 . As result of the declaration, the Government of Saskatchewan is asking municipalities to take the following into consideration:

As part of the scope of the provincial declaration, every Saskatchewan municipality is now under a state of emergency.
During a provincial state of emergency, provincial emergency measures will supersede municipal orders.
The Government of Saskatchewan is encouraging municipalities to help educate their ratepayers on the existing provincial emergency measures in order to lower the transmission of COVID-19.
The Government of Saskatchewan has indicated that, in order to avoid confusion, it will vacate any municipal order that conflicts with the provincial emergency measures.
Visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19 for the most up-to-date information from the Government of Saskatchewan.

See the full list of measures effective in Saskatchewan

COVID-19 Resources

There's a lot of information available on COVID-19. Municipalities of Saskatchewan is committed to supporting Saskatchewan's hometowns by providing access to the information and resources that are important to you, so we've created a hub on our website to help answer municipal COVID-19 questions and keep you updated. The hub includes information important to you as an employer, links to resources, including an infectious disease policy sample, and more.

We will continue to update our COVID-19 resources page with additional information as it becomes available.

COVID-19 Resources Hub

The Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance has created a survey to gather data on the impact COVID-19 is having locally and regionally. Learn more .

Increased Payment to Eligible Farmers Through New

Marginal Areas Program

Incentive of $125/acre now being offered

Saskatchewan farmers are becoming increasingly aware of those field areas that are not growing a crop, or a profit. Through its Marginal Areas Program (MAP), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is providing a financial incentive of $125/acre for producers in its target areas to seed hard to access and poorly producing areas to perennial forages.

Since 2017, roughly 1,000 acres have been seeded to forage under the Marginal Areas Program and DUC is looking to add more acres to the program this year. Along with helping manage salinity issues and other producer challenges, perennial cover allows for a suite of environmental benefits, such as improvements to water quality, carbon sequestration, and habitat for wildlife and beneficial insects.

Producers interested in the MAP (or one of DUC’s other forage programs) can find out more here or by emailing du_regina@ducks.ca .

Funding: Investing in Canada Infrastructure Funding

Detailed project applications for two funding streams - Green Infrastructure and Community, Culture, and Recreation Infrastructure - are being accepted for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program until March 31 .

With the current pandemic, the Municipalities of Saskatchewan has asked the provincial government to extend the deadline. We will provide more information when it becomes available.

Apply for infrastructure funding

Be Recognized for Sustainable Development

Any individuals, organizations, schools or businesses that have achieved success in sustainability education and engagement are encouraged to apply for Regional Centre for Expertise(RCE) Saskatchewan's Education for Sustainable Development Recognition awards. All projects that meet the award criteria and have made innovative achievements that build capacity for sustainable development in Saskatchewan and contribute to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) will be recognized.

See the application guide to learn more and download the application form to apply.

Roadside Development Permits

New application system

It’s out with the old and in with the new! New online application system , that is…

The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has launched a new online Roadside Development Permit application system and it’s ready to use on saskatchewan.ca .

Are you building a structure? Planting trees? Constructing approaches? Excavating near a provincial highway?

A permit is required for any work within 90 metres (approximately 300 feet) of the property line of a provincial highway.

For more information, visit saskatchewan.ca .

Reimagine Conference 2020 Postponed

The City of Regina is postponing Reimagine Conference 2020: Roadwork to Sustainable Cities in alignment with public health efforts throughout Canada to minimize and prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). The conference, originally planned for May 20-21 at Queensbury Convention Centre, will tentatively be rescheduled to September 2020 .

The City of Regina remains committed to the Reimagine Conference and to creating an Energy and Sustainability Framework that will outline the steps needed to achieve fully renewable city operations, facilities, and fleet by 2050.

Planning for the conference will continue. Those currently registered to attend in May will be refunded their registration fee and will be invited to re-register once a new date has been announced.

The Reimagine Conference steering committee will be working with presenters to re-confirm their involvement as new details are determined.

Invasive Species Workshop, Asset Management Training Postponed

Invasive Species

The Saskatchewan Invasive Species Council's workshop on all things invasive, scheduled to take place March 24 , has been postponed until fall 2020.

Asset Management

With careful consideration of the circumstances around COVID-19, Asset Management Saskatchewan has chosen to defer their upcoming MAMP Round 3 workshops to a later date, most likely in the fall of 2020. This includes both the Regina and Saskatoon dates, which were scheduled to take place this coming April.

Advocacy Update

Provincial Statement of Expenditures

On March 18 , the provincial government released its statement of expenditures. Highlights from the statement include:

an increase of $27 million to municipal revenue sharing, bringing the total to $278 million.
Increases in funding for the Urban Highway Connector Program, Community Airport Partnership Program, and funding for northern highways.
An additional $12 million for addictions and mental health initiatives. At Convention 2020 members passed a resolution calling for an increase in funding to ensure financial resources are in place to help address the crystal methamphetamine crisis being faced in the province.
a PST rebate on home construction.

While Municipalities of Saskatchewan is pleased to see a PST rebate on home construction, we are disappointed municipalities will continue to pay PST on construction projects, projects like water and waste-water facilities that support the quality of life for Saskatchewan’s residents.

The removal of PST on municipal construction projects was a request in the Municipalities of Saskatchewan’s 2020 budget submission. Municipalities of Saskatchewan also asked that the Community Rink Affordability Grant be reinstated, and other recreational facilities be considered, the province support a Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, and an agreement be developed to share cannabis excise tax revenues with municipalities. We will continue to advocate for these changes.

Events

Upcoming Events

Municipalities of Saskatchewan Webinar -

COVID-19 Panel: Preparing Your Community

March 25

Convention 2021

Share Your Theme Idea

The Convention 2020 theme, Building Sustainable Hometowns, was a success. Now we're looking for the next great idea to set the tone for 2021. If you have a theme idea, please email it to events@munisask.ca. We greatly value your suggestions, and read every one. Plus, if you submit a theme idea, you will be entered to win a prize.

Book Your Accommodations Starting March 30

At Convention 2020, we announced that we were working on a new system to help make booking your accommodations for convention even easier, and that more information would be available this spring.

We are excited to say, that time has come! Starting March 30 , you can book your rooms for Convention 2021 by using Resiada, our new hotel booking system. It's a one-stop shop for all participating Convention 2021 hotels. With Resiada you no longer have to search multiple websites or call multiple hotels to make your bookings. Securing your rooms for convention will now be as easy as the click of a few buttons.

We will send the link to all municipal members on March 30 so you can start booking your rooms. To ensure accurate availability, all hotels for Convention 2021 must be booked through Resiada.

If you have any questions, please contact adminassistant@munisask.ca .