The Saskatoon Chamber has submitted a letter to Council in strong support of the City’s move toward a priority-based budgeting (PBB) approach for upcoming budget cycles. This model provides an important opportunity to better align municipal spending with the services and outcomes that matter most to residents, businesses, and Saskatoon’s long-term success.

As part of this shift, we’re encouraging Council to recognize and account for the important role businesses play in funding civic services. Every new business that opens, grows, or invests in Saskatoon contributes directly to the cost of public infrastructure and services. The business pays commercial taxes, the owner pays personal taxes, and its employees contribute through property taxes, either as homeowners or renters. This ripple effect strengthens our tax base and helps reduce the financial load on existing residents and businesses.

Yet these economic dynamics are too often overlooked in budget decisions. That’s why we’re urging Council to integrate a simple but powerful question into its PBB framework: To what extent does this program, service, or community investment enable job creation?

A growth lens must be part of Saskatoon’s budget strategy, because growing the economy is key to sustaining the services and infrastructure we all rely on.

Read the full letter here