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THE CONFERENCE

Hosted by On Purpose Events; City of Saskatoon and Tourism Saskatoon

CONFERENCE THEMES

Discussions and presentations will fall under one (or more) of our three Winter Cities Shake-Up pillars. 

Designing for Winter

Walkways, streets, buildings and public spaces don't have to become cold, windy and unattractive as soon as winter hits.

Learn about the latest and best in urban design and planning to make our cities livable year-round.

Operating in Winter

How can a city operate and be sustainable without things such as snow management, transportation or modern technology?

Learn about the latest and best advancements in winter city operations.

Active in Winter

How can we plan and design cities, and offer opportunities that make it easier to Go Play Outside?
What types of activities and programming do people want? What makes for a great winter festival?
How can we encourage more active winter transportation?

BUT THERE’S MORE… SUB-ZERO FUN

Every day, we give you opportunities to play outside

Ice skate on one of Canada's voted best outdoor rinks, Cameco Meewasin Skating Rink
Snowshoe along the South Saskatchewan River using the Meewasin Trail
Check out one of Saskatoon's most loved outdoor events, Nutrien WinterShines

 THE REAL FUN STARTS WHEN TEMPERATURES DROP... BELOW ZERO

Winter in Saskatoon — So much to do!

Nutrien WinterShines

WinterCityYXE

Saskatoon

Saskatoon is the largest city in Saskatchewan, with a population of over 250,000.

We have one of the highest restaurants per capita in Canada - many embracing the farm to table philosophy.

We play outside - ice skate at the Cameco Meewasin Skating Rink. It was voted Canada's best outdoor skating rink by Reader's Digest in 2006.

We're home to the University of Saskatchewan, one of Canada’s leading research intensive universities.

We are home to the Remai Modern art museum, which has the world's most comprehensive collection of Picasso linocuts.

We have seven bridges since the South Saskatchewan River runs through the middle of the city.

We love sports - We are home to the Saskatchewan Rush Lacrosse Team, who have won two of three National Lacrosse League (NLL) championships since their debut in 2016. We are also home to the Saskatoon Blades Western Hockey League (WHL) team.

We have the Guinness World Record for World's Largest Snowball Fight. It consisted of 7,681 participants.

VISIT TourismSaskatoon.com FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is know as the land of the living skies. We encourage you to experience our vibrant cities, abundance of freshwater lakes, and wildlife located in Saskatchewan's beautiful prairies. 

Visit Tourism Saskatchewan to check out some great opportunities to experience the prairies through activities like the Cross-Country Skiing, Skiing and Snowboarding, Curling, Ice Fishing, Ice Skating, Snowmobiling, Dog Sledding, and more! 

Check out the below video of Rick Mercer covering the World's Largest Snowball Fight in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Check out the below video made by Saskatoon filmmaker, Andrei Feheregyhzi. It takes viewers on a cardboard and watercolour tour of Saskatoon’s arts and culture scene.

FOR THE LOVE OF WINTER

Saskatoon'S WINTER CITY STRATEGY

The WintercityYXE Strategy is an intentional effort by the City of Saskatoon and community stakeholders to celebrate what makes Saskatoon unique as a four-season place that is inviting, vibrant and prosperous, even in the coldest months of the year.

Co-designing a strategy  

In March 2016, stakeholders identified the steps to developing the Strategy:

• Building on the strength of existing assets;

• Engaging the community in change;

• Implementing actions; and

• Developing the Strategy.

Building on the work completed in 2016, Community Engagement in the co-design of a Winter City Strategy for Saskatoon in January 2017 identified a number of opportunities and “quick wins” under five specific themes:

• Improving mobility;

• Improving facilities and infrastructure;

• Providing more support to existing activities;

• Introducing new events and things to do; and

• Improving the promotion of events and activities.

 Winter City Community Working Group   

Volunteers representative of a variety of community sectors that relate to the themes of the Strategy helped the City’s Administration by guiding the plans for the Community Workshop, debriefing on the results of engagement activities to date, and will continue to meet to guide further components of the project.

 Learning from Others   

Continuing to learn from other communities has remained a theme throughout the strategy development process. We look forward the learnings that the Winter Cities Shake Up Conference and other local events, can provide for the Strategy.

More Information

For more information on the City of Saskatoon’s Winter City Strategy, visit the web page.

WINTER CITIES MOVEMENT

WORLD WINTER CITIES ASSOCIATION FOR MAYORS

In 1982, the first Northern Intercity Conference took place in Sapporo Japan, with representatives from nine winter cities in six countries gathering to talk about how to make winter cities more liveable.  The third such conference was held in Edmonton, Canada in 1988. These conferences continued to be held every two years, in conjunction with the Winter Expo, for industry and business, and the Winter Cities Forum, for researchers and academics. Since 2002, municipal administrators have met annually, while the mayors continued to meet every two years. In 2004, the name of the association was changed to the World Winter Cities Association for Mayors (WWCAM).  The most recent WWCAM conference was held in Hwacheon, Korea in January 2014.

LIVABLE WINTER CITIES ASSOCIATION

In 1978, the Livable Winter City Conference was held at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. This conference was the first of its kind in North America. Following the conference Canadian researchers, architects, engineers and municipal leaders, among others, recognised that winter technologies and expertise existed across the country, but mostly in isolation. In 1982, the Livable Winter Cities Association (LWCA) was created to provide a place for information sharing. The LWCA held conferences from 1982 – 2005, and published a quarterly magazine called “Winter Cities”.

WINTER CITIES INSTITUTE  

In 2008 the Winter Cities Institute was created to carry on the work of the Winter Cities Association.

Northern communities or “winter cities” have great opportunities to mitigate negative effects of the winter season while reinforcing the many positive aspects to create a vibrant, sustainable and livable environment for a prosperous future. The Winter Cities Institute's mission is to provide information, resources and networking opportunities for those who desire to make northern communities more livable and sustainable. The goal of the Winter Cities Institute is to be the best source for information, research, reports, plans and news from around the northern world, focusing on how to make the best of the winter season.  

Check out Winter Cities Institute on Facebook

WINTERCITIES SHAKE-UP 2015

In January 2015, Edmonton, Canada was host to a unique international Winter Cities Conference. Its holistic approach brought together people from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds to discuss all aspects of what makes a successful winter city, to share best practices; to experience what’s working at the Conference’s urban field trips; and to forge new approaches for improving the quality of life in winter cities.