The Saskatoon area has been inhabited for more than 600 years. Its name is derived from “mis-sask-quah-toomina,” the Cree Indian name for a local indigenous berry. You’ll still find jams and pies made from those berries, a local specialty.

Not until the 1880s did the first European settlers arrive here. The year was1883 when a group of 35 Methodists from Toronto wanted to escape the liquor trade in their city. So they examined the area in the rapidly-growing prairie region of Saskatchewan and found that it would make an excellent location to settle their “dry” community, based on the ideals of the Temperance League.

By 2005, however, Saskatoon was in the midst of another growth boom with construction under way on no less than four major residential areas, plus early planning launched on several proposed business parks and the Blairmore Suburban Development Area, also known as the "West Sector", a large recently annexed area on the city's west side which is expected to include seven residential communities, a business park, and a "suburban centre" in the coming years. (Construction of the suburban centre, which will include public and separate high schools, is scheduled to begin in 2006.)
The city is currently redeveloping the south downtown region of River Landing. This redevelopment will result in the development of a Hotel/Spa to the downtown core, a huge, new theater complex with twelve theatres with stadium-style seating owned by Cineplex Entertainment, parkland and a year round home for the Saskatoon Farmers Market.