What does Saskatoon need to work on to help newcomers settle as population grows?

Saskatoon has experienced a surge in immigration in recent years. 

Close to 14,000 new people decided to call Saskatoon home in 2023, according to Statistics Canada. The city says that's almost half of the total population growth provincewide in 2023. 

Statistics Canada data shows that 97 per cent of that population growth came from international immigration.

With immigrants fuelling much of Saskatoon's growth, what does the city need to do to accommodate them?

Barriers to work and affordable housing 

Marwah Al-Mufti came to Canada in 2018 and is a settlement co-ordinator with the Saskatchewan Intercultural Association (SIA).

Al-Mufti works with newcomers every day and finds that barriers to having previous credentials recognized and finding a job are still main challenges for many immigrants. 

"Especially for high, high qualification people. They find difficulty especially here in Saskatoon. It's not easy to find a job for them," she said.

Al-Mufti said many newcomers are quick to leave Saskatoon for better opportunities elsewhere. 

"Most of them they decided to go to Toronto and also, because of the cold weather, they decided to move maybe to Vancouver." 

Al-Mufti said affordable housing is another issue driving newcomers out of the province. 

"Finding suitable houses can still be difficult, especially for larger families or those with specific needs as rental demand increasing these days in Saskatoon," she said.

The previous city council approved over $13 million in grants, paid for by the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), for developers aimed at boosting affordable housing. 

But federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to cancel the HAF if his party wins the next federal election. 

Al-Mufti, an immigrant herself, plans to stay in Saskatoon despite the challenges. 

"I visited like Alberta, I went to other provinces, but I feel I belong to Saskatoon." 

Transit system still major concern 

More people means services and infrastructure need to adapt and expand.  

Jarvis Abonana Ayamsegna immigrated to Canada last year from Ghana and now calls Saskatoon home. 

Ayamsegna said navigating the transit system can be a major challenge for newcomers. 

"How to even locate the bus terminal is a problem, you know, they are not too visible," he said. 

"You're waiting for the bus, if the bus doesn't show up early, what happens? If you live a distance from the bus stop and you are unfortunate to miss it, what happens to you?" 

The city says it has been adding new buses to the fleet this year and 20 more buses are on order for 2025. 

It also has plans to create a high quality transit system, LINK, which is scheduled to launch for 2028. The project will implement some of the changes newcomers and other bus users have been calling for, such as on-demand heating, security cameras and lighting at bus stops. 

International immigration declining 

The latest population data from the province also shows that international migration to Saskatchewan has been slowing down. 

With more people leaving Saskatchewan for other provinces, this could mean a decline in the immigrant population in the near future. 

Ayamsegna said friends recommended he leave the province to find work elsewhere, but he didn't give up. 

"Some friends of mine who are in the B.C. area suggested that, yeah, with my background, it would be OK to come over," said Ayamsegna. 

"But I said no, I didn't want to be just hopping from one place to another." 

Ayamsegna considers himself lucky, but still hopes to see the next city council and mayor be aware reflect growth in their future plans. 

He also encourages other immigrants to stay and see how they drive the growth of the city.

"Sit, stay and help and get it better so that others come to enjoy."