Sask. housing industry leaders release policy blueprint to meet demand for new units

Sask. housing industry talks affordable housing WATCH: Sask. housing leaders talk about policy changes that would help meet the demand for affordable units.

Saskatchewan needs between 60,000 and 80,000 new housing units by 2030 to keep up with population growth and demand, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Housing leaders in the province say there needs to be some policy adjustments to make that happen, and on Monday, the Saskatoon and Regina home builders’ associations, the Saskatchewan Landlord Association and the Saskatchewan Realtors Association released their blueprint to achieve it.

Nicole Burgess, CEO of the Saskatoon & Region Home Builders’ Association, says the current rate of building is nowhere close.

“We need to be really doubling housing starts over the next few years, and we’re nowhere near there,” she said. “Our new housing inventory coming online is very static compared to previous years.”

The report, Secure Homes, Strong Future has recommendations for decision makers to consider when trying to meet the growing demand for housing.

Among them, ideas for enhancing affordability and reducing housing costs such as the reduction of PST on new home construction from six to four per cent, which the report suggests has “significantly increased the tax burden on new home buyers.”

Also, the report calls on a return of the Home Renovation Tax Credit which was in place from 2020 to 2022.

“While the rebate was only eligible for renovation expenses that were incurred between 2020 and 2022, the program proved to be very successful,” said Stu Niebergall, CEO of the Regina & Region Home Builders’ Association.

Their plan also calls for the recently introduced provincial secondary suite incentive to become permanent. The report suggests amending the program to allow non-owner-occupied properties to be eligible would give more rental housing providers the chance to participate.

The Saskatchewan Landlord Association says the rental market in the province struggles to keep up with demand. Waiting lists continue to grow, especially for affordable housing, and rental vacancy is dangerously low.

“In 2019, there was a vacancy of about four and a half to six per cent depending on the city,” said Cameron Choquette, CEO of the Saskatchewan Landlord Association.

“Vacancy is under one per cent in some new neighbourhoods in Saskatoon and Regina. To put that into perspective, healthy is about three and a half to four [per cent vacancy rate].”

Choquette says population growth is outpacing the new supply of rental housing.

“About 13,000 or 14,000 people moved here last year,” he said. “Assuming half of them move by the end of June, we had 600 completions and about 5,000 to 6,000 people moved to Saskatoon. That’s the imbalance that the four of us in our associations are trying to illustrate.”

With suggestions like establishing a Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure, the report urges the provincial government to make housing a top priority to hit its growth target of 1.4 million residents by 2030.

“A plan for growth cannot exclude bringing more housing to market,” said Chris Guérette, CEO of the Saskatchewan Realtors Association. “In fact, it’s a fundamental component to attracting, and not only attracting but retaining residents in our great province.”

In a statement to CTV News, the provincial government says it will continue to collaborate on programs like the secondary suite incentive and the PST rebate on new home construction.