Potholes litter Saskatoon’s roads every spring but this year seems to be worse: The number of pothole claims stood at 338 as of June 3, more than double both last year’s number and the 10-year average of 150 claims per year.
Staff from a local glass store that does deliveries say drivers have had more trouble with potholes in 2026 compared to previous years.
“They definitely have complained about how much there is and worries about, again, the longevity of product that comes in,” said Michael McLachlan, sales and marketing manager at Sunview Windows. “We’ve definitely had vehicles show up where things have shifted a lot more than usual.”
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McLachlan said he hasn’t noticed much of an increase in potholes himself, but noted they are getting bigger.
Jae Malinowski, owner of Faithfull Tirecraft, says 2026 has been one of the worst years for potholes, with his clients suffering mechanical damage to their vehicles that’s costing hundreds to thousands of dollars to repair.
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“We actually had one client where SGI requested getting a vehicle safety inspection done because of the mechanical damage that was done to their vehicle including their suspension, wheels, tires. That mechanical repair turned into about $3,200 from just getting a pothole,” he said.
While the freeze-thaw cycle has made it tricky for the city to keep up, work crews had repaired 2,000 out of 4,400 potholes as of June 3. To expedite the work, the city has added crews and contractors to the repair effort.
Watch above for more on what people in the city are saying about potholes.
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