As temperatures start to warm-up outside, there is a lingering chill that threatens to cool down our business climate and inhibit our economic growth. It comes on the heels of the 2025 commercial property tax reassessment roll and proposed changes to Saskatoon’s leading commercial-to-residential tax ratio.

Currently businesses pay $1.63 in property tax for every $1 paid by residents. In 2013, City Council committed to adjusting this ratio to 1.43 over 11 years and fully implementing it prior to the 2025 revaluation year. It was not an arbitrary target. It was a smart and deliberate move—based on principles of tax fairness and sound economics—to position Saskatoon as a destination for job creators and ultimately grow our city’s tax base. Through hiring and expansions, growing businesses increase both residential and commercial tax revenue for our city, lessening the burden on those of us already here. Then, as now, it was believed that this target ratio would strike the right balance between residential and commercial property owners given the income tax differential between the two.

Thanks to the leadership of successive councils, Saskatoon made progress toward this goal, strengthening our reputation as an attractive place to create jobs and grow a business.

The proposed change works against that goal and City Council would be wise to reject it. Hasty changes to Saskatoon’s long-standing tax ratio would send a shudder down the spine of business owners already dealing with uncertainty and others who are still reeling from the massive property tax increases thrust upon them after the 2021 reassessment cycle.

Let’s be clear: changing the tax ratio is not just a technical adjustment. It is a political choice that sends the wrong message and carries real economic consequences. Playing with the ratio—based on assessed property values for instance—conveys that Saskatoon plays with economic incentives when the mood strikes or when swings in assessed values are too dramatic for either commercial or non-commercial rate payers to bear.

A change to the ratio is problematic. But it points to a bigger issue.

Things like a tax ratio should be part of a grounded and forward-thinking growth plan, not subject to the whims of administrators or reassessment cycles.  If a tax ratio is subject to change, is it the right touchstone for decision-makers and does it provide the predictability and stability our businesses need? And if the next reassessment cycle results in a shock for commercial ratepayers, will City Council and Administration adjust the ratio in that case to reduce the shock? Currently, there is no policy to provide that assurance.

City Council can start today by staying the course on the current ratio and committing to an economic growth plan that helps both Saskatoon and its ratepayers win the future.