The City of Saskatoon’s new Affordable Housing Strategy has been approved by the Planning, Development, and Community Services committee, but significant budget allocations will need to be made next month to fund the five-year plan.
The new strategy is comprised of 84 targeted actions, 52 of which are for immediate implementation. Some of these include encouraging the development of tiny homes and increasing housing density near post-secondary institutions. These types of actions will be deferred until after 2026/27 budget deliberations, as they require funding that exceeds the $450,000 allocated to this cause annually by the City.
One decision to be made during deliberations is how much money to spend on establishing affordable housing. Administration is recommending that the City spend $8,600,000 between 2026 and 2027, which would secure 319 affordable housing units for the city.
Chief Financial Officer Clae Hack says this would raise the mill rate by about 1.3 per cent over those two years.
Saskatoon’s community organizations are also fully on board with the Affordable Housing Strategy. Nine speakers voiced their support for the strategy at Wednesday’s meeting, with another six submitting comments.
Saskatoon Tribal Council Tribal Chief Mark Arcand acknowledges that the city lacks affordable places to live, and more people are forced onto the street every day.
“At our Emergency Wellness Centre, we have an average of ten to twelve families a week. As soon as one family leaves another comes in, because they can’t afford rent. They can’t afford food.”
Representatives from Camponi Housing Corporation, The Salvation Army, Saskatoon Community Foundation, CUMFI, the Saskatchewan Realtors Association, and Metis Nation- Saskatchewan echoed his remarks.
Mathieu Gaudet with MN-S says Saskatoon is investing less in affordable housing now than it did 20 years ago, which needs to change.
“Housing gap projections are downright scary. MN-S projects a need for up to 7000 affordable housing options for our citizens in the next decade, and per the city’s strategy, they’re predicting a housing shortfall of 28,000 units.”
With the wheels now turning on the implementation of the Housing Saskatoon game plan, and community organizations on board, securing enough funding will be the main roadblock looking ahead.
