Confederation Urban Centre pushing to become Saskatoon’s next Business Improvement District

A new business improvement district proposal is hoping to bring major changes to Saskatoon’s westernmost community. Carla Shynkaruk reports.

Business owners in Saskatoon’s Confederation Urban Centre are working to have the area officially designated as a Business Improvement District (BID), a move supporters say would strengthen collaboration, improve communication, and give the area a stronger voice at City Hall.

“We’re all doing this because we want to make a difference and make community impact,” Karen Kobussen, the CEO of the Saskatoon West Business Association, told CTV News.

Kobussen says the goal of becoming a BID is to bring businesses together under a unified structure, allowing them to share information and work collectively on common concerns.

“I’m really looking forward to having just this collaborative, unified effort where information is openly available and everyone maybe doesn’t feel like they’re on an island anymore,” she said.

While safety remains a key concern for businesses in the area, Kobussen notes those challenges are shared across many Saskatoon neighbourhoods.

“I think you’re hearing very loud and clear from the communities, from the business associations and from the BIDs that we want to work together to address some of these issues of community safety for our customers, for the residents we serve,” she said.

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She believes BID status would help ensure the area is included in important civic conversations.

“They represent a collective right. It’s that unified voice and the sharing of information means things that happen at city council or other levels are communicated to BIDs.”

The proposed BID area includes Confederation Mall and surrounding businesses, including the nearby Superstore. It stretches south to Fairhaven Bowl and north to Circle Drive, reaching as far as 11th Street. There are few residential homes within the proposed boundaries.

Ward 2 councillor Senos Timon says the proposal is a positive step forward and addresses a long-standing gap.

“We’d been in conversation with some of the business owners in that district,” Timon said. “What has been lacking is the voice for those businesses in some of the decision-making process.”

Timon adds the initiative has been years in the making and credits dedicated community members for bringing it forward.

“This is the right time for them to bring this forward,” he said. “It’s quite a lot of work — it requires coordination and logistics.”

Kobussen says the idea to form a BID gained momentum in 2024 after changes to municipal election boundaries brought a new group of businesses together.

“And what better people to be involved with than people that are civic-minded,” she said.

If approved, organizers hope the Confederation Urban Centre BID will become official within a year, with plans to begin operations in 2027.