The City of Prince Albert is advising residents and local businesses to plan ahead for a temporary disruption to in-person financial services at City Hall, as the Financial Services front counter will be closed for a full day to accommodate scheduled software maintenance.
According to a notice issued by the city, the Financial Services counter on the main floor of City Hall will be closed all day on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. The closure will affect a wide range of routine municipal transactions, including tax payments, utility bills and business-related services that many residents and companies rely on for day-to-day operations.
City officials say the closure is required to complete software maintenance work on the municipality’s financial systems. During this period, staff will be unable to process payments or applications through the Financial Services counter or associated virtual payment platforms.
At the time of the closure, no payments will be accepted directly at the front counter. To help mitigate the impact, the city will provide a drop box at City Hall for residents who need to submit cash or cheque payments. Municipal officials say payments placed in the drop box will be processed as soon as the software maintenance is complete, and residents may request that a receipt be mailed to them once transactions are finalized.
The city provided a detailed list of services that will be unavailable during the shutdown. These include tax payments, water and sewer payments, and parking ticket payments, both at the front counter and through virtual payment options. Business licensing services will also be suspended for the day, affecting both in-person transactions and online payments.
Other services impacted by the closure include the purchase of bus passes and the processing of invoice payments. In addition, residents will not be able to open new water accounts during this time, including applications and hook-ups, which are typically handled through the Financial Services department.
While most financial services will be paused, the city confirmed that impound lot payments will continue to be available at the Financial Services counter during the maintenance period. The municipality did not elaborate on how this exception will be managed operationally while other services remain unavailable.
For local businesses, the one-day closure may require advance planning, particularly for those with upcoming payment deadlines or licensing needs that would normally be handled through City Hall. Companies that rely on timely processing of invoices, permits or utility payments may choose to complete transactions ahead of January 6 or make use of the drop box option where appropriate.
Municipalities across Canada periodically schedule temporary service disruptions to perform system upgrades and maintenance, particularly as local governments continue to modernize financial and digital infrastructure. While such work is often aimed at improving efficiency, reliability and data security over the long term, it can result in short-term inconvenience for residents and businesses.
The City of Prince Albert acknowledged the disruption and apologized to residents for any inconvenience associated with the closure. Officials did not indicate whether similar maintenance-related closures are planned in the coming months.
Residents with time-sensitive transactions are encouraged to plan accordingly by completing payments or applications before January 6 or waiting until services resume following the completion of the maintenance work. The city has not specified when normal operations will resume the following day, but Financial Services are expected to return to regular business hours once the software updates are finalized.
Additional information will be available through the city’s usual communication channels, including its website and customer service contacts, for residents seeking clarification on how the temporary closure may affect their specific financial transactions.
