The city of Saskatoon is continuing to look for places to put two 30-bed emergency shelters, but the two locations could be consolidated into one.
A report to city council Wednesday says that there have been several challenges in finding potential locations.
Site criteria provided for the city included:
- room for approximately 30 beds each
- beds in an open shelter-type hall (with movable wall systems or partitions)
- some private rooms (accessed internally)
- an area suitable for office space for site staff
- showers, bathrooms, kitchen
- internal and external gathering spaces (amenity spaces) available on site be considered
- proximity to other services should be considered
- zoned appropriately if possible, or applicable for consideration under the City’s Emergency Residential Shelter zoning provisions.
Additional criteria imposed by the city included making sure that the potential facilities would be at least 250 metres from any elementary school in the Saskatoon Public Schools or Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools systems.

“Given the challenges in identifying potential sites, the province and the administration discussed the possibility of a single 60-bed facility, rather than two 30-bed facilities. Both the province and the administration are supportive of this approach, provided a suitable site can be identified and the appropriate operating conditions are in place,” the report said.
A 15-bed complex care facility will be established along Idylwyld Drive, with the report saying that the province intends to open it in the relatively near future.
A 30-bed shelter was being considered for the Sutherland neighbourhood at a former fire hall, but outcry from the community and the new criteria created by the city took that location off the list.
The city is tasked with finding suitable locations for the shelters and will be funded by the Ministry of Social Services.
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