Saskatoon city hall aims to buy vacant lots to support homeless initiatives

Saskatoon city hall aims to buy vacant lots to support homeless initiatives

Mon, December 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM UTC

3 min read

In September, council backed the idea of a single central navigation hub for services for homeless and vulnerable people, with possible locations expected to be identified by city hall in spring. (Chanss Langaden/CBC - image credit)

Saskatoon city hall is ramping up efforts to address the homelessness crisis, including proposing to buy six west-side properties with federal money.

The vacant lots are located inside or near the Riversdale and Pleasant Hill neighbourhoods.

City council will consider the potential purchases at its next meeting on Wednesday.

The properties include two sites owned by Imperial Oil Ltd., and come with concerns about contamination and remediation. The city administration is proposing to buy the sites for $700,000, using money from a federal fund intended to address homeless encampments.

Those two properties are located in the West Industrial area, on the western periphery of Riversdale near the Canadian National train tracks along 19th Street West and directly north of Optimist Park.

The adjacent Imperial Oil properties at 1112 19th St. W. and 301 Avenue K South are located next to a city-owned property at 1202 19th St. W.

“Both Imperial Oil Limited properties and the city-owned property … have been vacant for decades, primarily due to historical environmental impacts,” a city report says.

The city acquired its property in 2001 due to unpaid taxes. City hall and Imperial Oil combined forces to clean up all three properties, the report explains.

The federal funding includes stipulations on how the properties can be used.

The report suggests the combined properties could be used to establish services for unhoused people, perhaps even a central hub for homeless services.

“Administration believes the site is well situated to support a development that could include social housing as well as navigation-related services, fostering an inclusive neighbourhood development which meets the needs of vulnerable populations,” the report says.

A separate report proposes the city buy a vacant lot at the southwest corner of 20th Street West and Avenue J South in Riversdale and three adjacent properties at the southeast corner of 22nd Street West and Avenue 0 South in Pleasant Hill.

The combined cost of those properties is just over $1 million; that money would also come from the federal government to address homelessness and encampments.

These properties could be used to partner with Indigenous organizations for “future supportive housing development,” the report says.

In September, council backed the idea of a single central navigation hub for services for homeless and vulnerable people, with possible locations expected to be identified by city hall in spring.

Saskatoon city council voted on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, to purchase this former restaurant at 325 Avenue C South to convert it to a winter warming centre for homeless people. — (Phil Tank/CBC)

Warming up

Council will also be tasked Wednesday with approving a lease for a warming centre in Riversdale.

Council voted in October to buy and renovate a former restaurant on Avenue C South in Riversdale, with the federal government covering the $1-million-plus cost.

The Saskatoon Tribal Council is expected to run the warming centre on behalf of the province, according to a report by the city administration. The city would lease the building to the provincial Saskatchewan Housing Corporation for the equivalent of $10 a year, far below market value. The lease would run until the end of March.

The tribal council is running a temporary warming centre for women at the former Saskatchewan Transportation Company depot on 23rd Street downtown until the Avenue C location is ready.

The report fails to say when the Riversdale location would be ready, but it does say the space would be limited to 150 people and the province would cover all operational costs.

The city estimates its costs for the lease at $55,160, including $24,000 for forgoing market rent for four months, $6,160 for a property tax exemption and $25,000 in security costs.

The province, city hall and the tribal council are developing a safety plan for the site, the report adds. Concerns have been raised about the location of the warming centre being next to an existing shelter run by the Salvation Army.

Earlier this month, Mayor Cynthia Block got support from the planning, development and community services committee to spark talks between the city administration and the Riversdale Business Improvement District on a plan to increase safety and “economic resilience” in the area.

The Riversdale BID did not immediately respond to a message from CBC seeking its perspective.

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