A new way of doing business was rejected by Saskatoon city councillors Wednesday. During the city’s governance and priorities committee meeting, most councillors voted against adding community benefits frameworks to the city’s procurement practices. “I’m actually not interested in creating a whole new program,” Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer said. A city report describes community benefit frameworks as a set of guidelines, or a policy directive respecting community benefits, that is enacted by a government to help guide public procurement projects. These benefits could range from targeted hires and apprenticeships, requiring local small businesses or Indigenous-owned businesses to be contracted or ensuring legacy projects like a community centre, green space or affordable housing are part of a certain project. These guidelines would function in two ways: either as a condition of approving a development or a condition of awarding a contract. Saskatoon currently has some of these policies in place. The city has an Indigenous spend target of five per cent and an Indigenous procurement framework. As part of negotiations with a private arena operator, the city worked in a series of agreements for the Downtown Event and Entertainment District before the partnership was abandoned. This included making venue availability at affordable rates for community non-profit rentals, and a commitment to filling jobs from within the local community wherever possible. Ward 7 Coun. Holly Kelleher wanted the city to look at developing a community benefits framework in time for budget deliberations in 2027 for council to consider. “What this would do is bring forward options for levels of more widespread community benefit framework rather than doing a project by project,” she said. Last year, The City of Vancouver removed requirements to participate in these agreements. Donauer felt more red tape wouldn’t help speed up developments in Saskatoon. “I suspect that the administration’s assessment of what happened, I believe it was in Vancouver, is correct that this was perhaps a hindrance to rapid development,” he said. The city report said infrastructure project costs have increased rapidly in recent years. Administration advised against any additional measures at this time which could further increase those costs. Ward 9 Coun. Bev Dubois also wondered about the work in front of city staff if they were to develop a framework. “We have several initiatives underway. We already do this,” she said. “And I’m concerned about admin capacity at this time.” Councillors unanimously supported getting an annual report from administration about current practices on community benefits.
