Saskatoon Land Branch - Saskatoon

 Saskatoon Land Annual Report 2021

Since 1954, Saskatoon Land has been successfully shaping urban growth while generating revenue for municipal improvements. Building better roads, funding affordable housing, renovating aging leisure amenities—these are just a few of the quality of life improvements made possible by Saskatoon Land in recent years.

Informally, the City of Saskatoon has been buying, developing and selling land since the 1920s. The City formally established the Land Bank in 1954 to acquire land for future development. In the years since then, the Land Bank has grown and evolved. Today, our mandate is not only to provide an adequate supply of serviced land, but also to initiate creativity and innovation in urban design, generate profits for allocation to civic projects and programs, and influence urban growth. 

Municipal Land Development

Saskatoon operates one of the largest self-financed municipal land development programs in Canada. Self-financed means the cost of all business operations (including land development levies, fees, staff salaries, overhead costs, marketing, administration) is covered by the revenue generated by land sales and not through property taxes collected by the City.

Every year, Saskatoon Land strategically offers a variety of residential, commercial and industrial zoned properties. Revenues from these land sales can be used to purchase additional land. At the same time, profits, interest and lease revenues can be used to help finance priority capital projects and general operating expenses.

Result? Significant savings for Saskatoon taxpayers and one of the lowest property tax rates in western Canada. Saskatoon Land’s cash flow is also a major factor in the City’s triple A credit rating from Standard & Poor’s, which in turn results in a much better interest rate when the City is required to borrow funds.

Saskatoon Land Core Mandates

• Provide an adequate supply of residential, institutional and industrial land at competitive market values.
• Provide innovation and leadership in design for new growth.
• Ensure timely and financially responsible acquisitions of all land requirements for the corporation’s various capital projects and ensure a sufficient long-term supply of future development lands for the City’s land development business line.
• Provide financial returns at competitive rates of return on investment to the City for allocation to civic projects and programs.
• Assist in the attainment of orderly urban growth.
• Coordinate and oversee the ongoing maintenance and leasing of all City-owned future development lands.
• Operate on a level playing field with other land development interests in the city. Saskatoon Land is subject to all the same procedures and regulations that govern private sector land developers in the city.
• Provide real estate services and expertise on behalf of the Corporation.

Saskatoon Land Internal Audit

 An Internal Audit of operations was conducted between January 2015 and July 2016. The audit focused on seven key areas including:

• Adherence to Policies 
• Conflict of Interest
• Lot Prices/Lot Pricing Process
• Assessment of Policies
• Privacy, Access to Information and Financial Reporting
• Business and Governance Structure
• Risk Assessment

 Internal Audit Report Summary