The City of Saskatoon says they’re actively monitoring the Omicron variant and the impact it has or will have on civic services. The City’s Director of Emergency Management, Pamela Goulden-McLeod says they’re anticipating and planning for the likelihood that City staff will indeed be away from the workplace due to COVID-19 related illness and self-isolation resulting from the new variant. Goulden-McLeod says the City’s core services are currently continuing including garbage collection. The Saskatoon Fire Department is currently not experiencing any significant staffing challenges. When it comes to the Saskatoon Police Service, Deputy Chief Mitch Yuzdepski says community safety measures remain in place. The SPS also has a business continuity plan in place to ensure that there are no disruptions to front-line services.

In the fall, the City established a COVID-19 risk framework which presents colour-coded risk levels and measures based on different virus-related statistics. Currently, the City is in the red zone, which is critical. For January, the current approved status by City Council is yellow, which is caution. No potential changes are made until the next regular City Council meeting later this month, or unless a special meeting is held.