On July 23, 2025, the Rotary Community Garden was given a 29-day eviction notice.
The notice requested that the garden be completely removed by Aug. 21. According to the garden coordinators, the reason given for the eviction was to “ensure efficiencies and cost savings” in site remediation.
The garden, built in 2019, was the first vacant brownfield lot in Saskatoon to be transformed into community garden.
On Wednesday, members of the Rotary Community Garden spoke to city council about the impact losing the garden would have, noting that produce from the garden cuts costs for low-income or houseless individuals.
“Last summer we had one person who was not staying in the garden, (but) was staying in one of the homeless shelters but came regularly and began gardening with us. (He) gardened on and off all summer and he has continued to correspond with us. He’s found housing, he’s in Prince Albert and he’s back on a stable path. He credits our support that summer with some of his success,” says Miki Mappin, a co-coordinator for the Rotary Community Garden.
The city says they applied for funding from the province to improve the garden site back in April, but had been denied. Imperial Oil, the former owners of the land back in 1911, approached the city to help with remediation work.
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At the council meeting, Leslie Anderson, the director of planning and development for the city says the collaboration with Imperial Oil will save the city roughly $500,000. Mappin responded sharing that the community is worth more than the price tag given.
“We celebrate the city’s initiative in beginning the process to rehabilitate this site, but urban renewal is more than land and buildings, it’s about communities and the activities that sustain them,” Mappin says.
The Rotary Community Garden Community requested for the eviction to be postponed until fall harvest so their plants will not be left to die, or until a new plot of land for the garden is found.
Ward 2 Coun. Senos Timon made some recommendations to the council in regard to the garden space. First, he suggested that the city should research options to provide to the garden to safely store their materials for the time being.
Secondly, the city will look for a new permanent location for the garden in or near Pleasant Hill for the 2026 season. This was passed by council unanimously.
Watch the video above to see footage from City Council and the Rotary Community Garden.
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