The City of Saskatoon has spent nearly $300,000 on three oversized plastic rocks, drawing criticism from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which says the purchase is another example of wasteful municipal spending at a time when residents are facing higher property taxes.

According to documents obtained by the CTF, the city paid $297,490 to Calgary-based artist duo Sans façon to create Modern Erratics, a public art installation consisting of three large plastic rocks.

The City of Saskatoon spent almost $300,000 on large plastic rocks.

That's right, Saskatoon spent the equivalent of the property tax bills of 118 average households on three large plastic rocks.

Real boulders cost about half the price.https://t.co/ApgCk0IrgC pic.twitter.com/SUVUbugS9y

— Gage Haubrich (@haubrich_g) July 28, 2026

The sculptures have been placed at Forestry Farm Park, Diefenbaker Park along Circle Drive, and inside the Material Recovery Centre at the Saskatoon landfill.

The artwork was funded through Saskatoon's public art policy, which dedicates up to 1% of eligible municipal capital project budgets to public art.

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"I can't believe I need to say this: Taxpayers shouldn't be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for plastic rocks," said Gage Haubrich, Prairie director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "It's ridiculous and disrespectful to taxpayers that anyone at city hall thought this was a good idea."

The taxpayer advocacy group argues the city could have purchased natural boulders from local suppliers for between $17,000 and $50,000 each, a fraction of the project's total cost.

The spending comes the same year Saskatoon approved a 6.7% property tax increase. According to the CTF, the money spent on the installation is roughly equivalent to the annual property tax bills paid by 118 average households.

"The city should be helping Saskatoon residents by making their lives more affordable, not hiking taxes and making them pay for big plastic rocks," Haubrich said. "The city needs to cancel this one per cent of spending on art policy so it's not tempted to do anything like this again."

The CTF also pointed to previous public art expenditures in Saskatoon, including nearly $100,000 for colour-changing illuminated spheres installed in a downtown alley in 2023 and more than $8,000 spent painting doors in the same alley the following year.