COVID-19: City of Saskatoon announces layoffs of some staff

SASKATOON — On Tuesday the City of Saskatoon said it will lay off "a number" of casual staff in the wake of the recent closures of city facilities to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

"From our perspective, layoffs are an important step to enable staff, without any scheduled hours, the ability to access options such as employment insurance as soon as possible," City Manager Jeff Jorgenson said in a news release.

According to the city, casual staff are employees whose hours are scheduled based on work need. Examples of casual staff are lifeguards, cashiers and activity leaders.

The announced layoffs will not affect permanent city staff.

"For permanent staff, we are not looking at layoffs in the coming weeks," Jorgenson said.