Regina is growing faster than it thought it would. That is according to the City’s latest growth monitoring report, which provided an update on Regina’s population growth and housing supply. “In 2025, we saw a five-year high in permits approved for new housing units at around 1,674,” Luke Grazier, director of sustainable infrastructure for the City of Regina told CTV News on Tuesday. “And on the population side, we’ve seen quicker than anticipated population growth, adding around 30,000 new residents in the last three years. So that marries really well to that new housing supply.” In addition to approving more building permits than in the previous five years, Regina is also diversifying the housing market. Of the 1,674 approved builds in 2025, 58 per cent were multi-unit housing units. Five per cent were duplexes or semi-detached units; four per cent were single detached units and secondary suites built together and just 15 per cent were single detached homes. Regina also saw a significant increase in building permits for standalone detached backyard suites and secondary suites representing 18 per cent of total units approved in 2025. “As more folks come into the community, there’s pressures on existing housing stock,”Glazier added. “And to maintain that affordability [you need] a steady stream of supply which needs to come online.” This comes as the province as a whole is adding to its housing supply. In the month of July alone, 492 new builds began in Saskatchewan cities. That is up from 397 in July 2025 – a 24 per cent increase. The increase in new housing starts is second best among Canadian provinces, behind only Manitoba. However, as new builds come online, space to put them is running out. “The growth monitoring report suggests there’s a little over a year’s supply of serviced lots,” Stu Niebergall, president and CEO of the Regina Home Builders’ Association said. “And while that’s an improvement from where we’ve been, that is still a pretty narrow cushion we have in place.” Niebergall has long been supportive of the City’s recent amendments to its growth plan, which were made in February. The changes focus its efforts on approving new builds and neighbourhoods based on available infrastructure. “It’s so important we continue to invest in infrastructure to continue ensuring we’ve got timely planning and people are moving through the process,” Niebergall added. “So as we continue this going, we continue to see more growth happening in our community; all the time protecting affordability.” For the second year in a row, an RBC report named Regina the most affordable city in Canada to purchase a home in. “The City obviously doesn’t construct housing in the same vein as a developer or builder,” Glazier said. “But our role is to support and foster an environment for investment while facilitating and expediting new housing.” “Whether that’s through fast permit turnaround times, City incentive programs as well as working actively with our development industry partners to proactively plan for the infrastructure needed to support new neighborhoods,” he added. Regina’s 2024 growth plan projected it would need 56,900 new housing units to support a population of 370,000 by 2050. With the City growing faster than projected, Regina may need even more homes than it originally thought. “It takes years to build a new neighborhood,” Niebergall said. “You can’t wait till you’re out of lots to be making those decisions.” City administration says it continues to focus its efforts on improving its growth efficiency and below ground infrastructure to support an increasing population in the future.
