Saskatoon prepares bid to host major music event, but won’t say which one

WATCH: Saskatoon wants to host a major music event. It’s putting together a bid and on Wednesday the city agreed to back the project with half a million dollars

Discover Saskatoon is bidding to have the city host a major music event, but won’t say which one.

Steph Clovechok, CEO of Discover Saskatoon, only said it’s a five-day national music awards event taking place next year.

“I can’t [say] what it is, I will say that it’s a very good thing that Saskatoon is back on the national and international stage in this way,” Clovechok told journalists.

Saskatoon last hosted the JUNO Awards 18 years ago. It was scheduled to return to the city in 2020, until it was cancelled by the pandemic.

While the exact event is a mystery, Clovechok said the one thing that’s certain is the boost it would bring to the local economy.

“We’re going to see upwards of 9,000 people traveling into our city, and economic impacts that could span anywhere between $9 million to $14 million,” Clovechok said.

In a city council meeting on Wednesday, councillors unanimously agreed to back the bid with $500,000.

The money is from a reserve fund. Coun. Troy Davies said it won’t impact property tax rates.

“That there is no mill rate impact to hosting an event like this. It’s specifically done through reserves that we put in place,” Davies said.

Clovechok said $1.6 million is required to submit the bid. Discover Saskatoon is putting down $100,000 of its own, $500,000 from the city and is asking the province for the remaining $1 million.

In an email to CTV News, a spokesperson with Tourism Saskatchewan said it’s aware of the funding request.

“A formal evaluation process will be followed within the Government of Saskatchewan to determine any provision of funding,” the emailed statement reads.

“So if that funding is not received from the province, is the proposal dead?” Coun. Bev Dubois asked Clovechok during the meeting.

“We may lose the opportunity, yes,” Clovechok responded.