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| Geography |  Saskatoon is centrally located in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada, in townships 36 and 37, range 5 and township 36, range 6, west of the third meridian. The City lies 780 kilometres (kms) northwest of Winnipeg, a little over 520 kms southeast of Edmonton, and just over 300 kms north of the United States (U.S.) border.
Saskatoon is situated on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River which is crossed by seven bridges within the city limits. The altitude of Saskatoon is 481.5 metres above sea level. The city covers an area of 144 sq. kms, which includes over 120 hectares of riverbank parklands.
| | History | Saskatoon's founders dreamed of creating a temperance colony in the great NorthWest. John A. Macdonald's government, in a hurry to develop the country, was offering large locks of land to colonization companies. Many in Toronto's Methodist community saw this as a golden opportunity to escape the evils of the liquor traffic. They formed the Temperance Colonization Society (TCS) in 1881 and signed up 3,100 would-be colonists for more than two million acres. By June 1882 John Lake, a Methodist minister turned entrepreneur, was looking for a colony site on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River.
The government grant to the TCS was actually 313,000 acres. It ran from Clark's Crossing (now Clarkboro) on the South Saskatchewan, about 20 kms downstream from today's Saskatoon, to the Moose Woods Reserve, about 45 kms upstream. On the advice of Moose Woods Chief White Cap, Lake chose a place in the middle of the TCS grant, called Minnetonka, where a ferry could cross the river. In 1883 the first streets of Saskatoon were surveyed on the east bank of the river, just above Minnetonka. In spite of this hopeful start, Saskatoon grew slowly. The river was too shallow and too full of shifting sandbars for easy navigation. As well, fear of Native hostility caused by reports of the NorthWest Rebellion in 1885 discouraged settlement.
In 1890 the Qu'Appelle, Long Lake, and Saskatchewan Railway Company bridged the river at Saskatoon and built a line to Prince Albert. A new settlement soon developed on the west side of the river around the railway station. In 1901, when this tiny settlement incorporated as a Village, it kept the name of Saskatoon. The name of the original settlement on the east side changed to Nutana. A third settlement, Riversdale, developed west of the railway tracks. In 1906, with the promise of a traffic bridge and other civic improvements, the three settlements amalgamated to form a city. The trickle of immigrants was becoming a flood and Saskatoon became the fastest growing city in Canada.
Saskatoon became the central city of central Saskatchewan because a small group of pioneer businessmen tirelessly lobbied to make sure the railways came to their town. By 1908 three railway bridges and a traffic bridge crossed the South Saskatchewan and Saskatoon was the hub of a transportation network. Today five of the city's seven bridges are motor vehicle bridges and only two carry rail traffic. But Saskatoon remains the place where many trails cross.
| | Economic Information | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan's largest city with a population of 213,607 and growing was rated Best City under 250,000 in Canada (Places Rated Almanac). The praise doesn't stop there. The Canada West Foundation said 'clearly, Saskatoon is much more than a small-sized Western Canadian City. It is becoming one of the more important economic and demographic hubs on the prairies'.
Saskatchewan grows half of the entire quantity of Canada's major export crops: wheat, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed, and canola. Saskatoon is at the heart of this market, providing a variety of services and products to the farm sector. Mining is also an important part of the economy. The Saskatoon region is the world's largest exporter of uranium, and nearly two-thirds of the world's recoverable potash reserves are located in the Saskatoon region.
Value-added food processing is one of the fastest growing industries in Saskatoon, which is considered the agriculture biotechnology capital of Canada. Saskatoon was named 'one of the best cities in Canada for knowledge based businesses' by the Globe and Mail. Much of this work takes place at the world-renowned 'Innovation Place', a state-of-the-art research centre that Time Magazine called 'one of the world's foremost centre for agricultural biotechnology (ag-biotech), home to companies that have amassed a long list of important breakthroughs in crop engineering'.
Innovation Place is one of Canada's new high-tech incubators, where locally grown IT companies that do everything from developing components for wireless-communications networks to creating Internet-security software, rub shoulders with multinational seed manufacturers and pharmaceutical researchers.
Saskatoon is also home to Canada's largest scientific project in history - The Canadian Light Source Synchrotron. In describing the project, Macleans Magazine said 'to appreciate the $174 million synchrotron project, now under construction at the University of Saskatchewan, it helps to think big ¿ and then, to think very, very small. The building housing the synchrotron, a giant particle accelerator that runs electrons into light, spans an area roughly the size of a Canadian Football League field. Synchrotron light is incredibly intense, a billion times brighter than the sun, to be precise. Harnessing that light allows scientists to peer into the atomic structure of samples as small as the width of a human hair. What they learn along the way hold the potential to eradicate disease, develop live-saving drugs, and cleanse the environment'.
Contact the City's Regional Economic Development Authority (REDA) at www.sreda.com for more information on Saskatoon's vibrant economy and business opportunities.
| | Attractions |  Saskatoon is a four-season destination with much to offer visitors. History comes alive at many exceptional museums such as the Western Development Museum and its popular Mainstreet Boomtown 1910. Six thousand years of habitation can be explored at Wanuskewin Heritage Park.
Many festivals and special events are celebrated annually. From Winterfest in February, to the ethnic celebrations of Folkfest and Vesna, to the renowned Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, to the innovative Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Festival, and the popular Saskatoon Exhibition, the good times are guaranteed.
Saskatoon Centennial Auditorium and Convention Centre - a sophisticated convention and performing arts centre whose innovative and progressive staff offer versatile and affordable service, excellent food and catering services, and a value that is second to none.
Saskatchewan Place - Saskatoon's trade and sports centre seats 13,000 with an unbelievable mix of internationally acclaimed performers and sporting events, trade, consumer, and family shows. Saskatchewan Place is recognized worldwide for its powerful and aggressive programming.
The Mendel Art Gallery & Civic Conservatory - Collects, exhibits, preserves, and interprets works of art and develops public art appreciation. The Mendel enjoys the second highest yearly visits per capita for any civic gallery in Canada (second only to the National Gallery of Canada).
Saskatoon Zoo & Forestry Farm Park - Visit the Saskatoon Zoo and see many of North America's most elusive animals up close! Majestic birds of prey, wolves, foxes, badgers, lynx, and bison live alongside reptiles and fish, Capuchin monkeys, and exotic tropical birds.
Diefenbaker Canada Centre - The only Prime Ministerial Centre in the country. It is a place to discover Canada, its roots, and its achievements.
The Tourism Saskatoon website (www.tourismsaskatoon.com) has a wealth of information on Saskatoon sites, attractions, accommodations, and special events.
| | Other Info | Environment - Saskatoon was rated the number one City in Canada for air and water quality by Chatelaine magazine calling the city 'near pristine'. In addition, Saskatoon is one of the sunniest cities in Canada receiving an average of 2,381 hours annually. Saskatoon experiences four distinct seasons with temperatures ranging from 30c (86f) on the warmest summer days to -30c (-22f) on the coldest winter days. The average annual precipitation level is 347.2 mm.
Education - With access to excellent K-12 schools, technical schools, and the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), many educational opportunities are available. The U of S is the only university in Canada to house all five health science colleges and a major teaching hospital on the same campus. Some of the first experiments undertaken aboard the space shuttle were a result of research conducted at the U of S. Innovation Place, located on the university grounds, is one of the most successful university related research parks in North America.
Municipal Governance - The City of Saskatoon is one of the best run municipalities in the country, and is Canada's only single-tier municipality with an AAA credit rating. Based on surveys done by the City of Edmonton, Saskatoon has the second lowest municipal property taxes and utility rates in the country.
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