‘Change the story’: New Saskatoon housing strategy gets industry approval

WATCH: Saskatoon's new housing strategy aims to increase supply of affordable homes.

A new affordable housing strategy was unveiled at city council chambers Wednesday, with numerous speakers voicing their support for the plan amid dire need.

“We’re talking about lives lost, people who are dying in our streets, in our justice systems, in the social service systems,” said Rachael Steinke, the CEO of the Saskatoon Community Foundation.

“Because of our inability to keep up and bail out the boat. We have to change the story.”

Housing Saskatoon, the city’s new affordable housing strategy, was presented to members of the planning, development and community services committee Wednesday morning.

The project from city administration is the city’s first comprehensive housing needs assessment. It’s comprised of a series of documents and analysis, built from available data, hours of research and nearly 100 interviews and focus groups meant to chart a path towards greater housing affordability.

Seven speakers voiced their support and offered insights, and all spoke of the need for more housing across the city.

“There (are) certain responsibilities from the provincial and federal government, but also what’s our responsibility as a municipal government, what’s our responsibility as a city?” Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand asked.

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Of the more than 120 pages of documents provided to councillors, many pages show statistics of growing population, lack of housing and rising rents all creating a crunch on the housing and rental markets, which further hamper affordability to more residents.

Administration says Saskatoon’s population is projected to grow by nearly 89,000 people between 2022 and 2036. Existing and planned new builds will have a capacity to serve roughly 61,000 residents, leaving an estimated 28,000 without an adequate place to call home.

Mathieu Gaudet, the Director of Housing and Homelessness with Métis Nation Saskatchewan, said Canada overall is building less affordable housing than it did in the 1970s, and the city is investing less in affordable housing the past three years than it did 20 years ago.

“The housing gap projections are downright scary,” he said. “It’s time to change that.”

Angela Bishop with Camponi Housing said the builder has seen its waitlist for affordable housing continue to grow. As of Wednesday morning, Bishop said the company’s waitlist had 1,500 people on it.

“This strategy is not just about infrastructure,” she said. “It’s about dignity, equity and the future of our community.”

Major Gord Taylor, the executive director of The Salvation Army’s Crossroads Residential Services, also warned the city to not lose sight of more transitional housing and shelter spaces to support Saskatoon’s growing homelessness population.

“There’s gaps along the entire continuum, but the thing I really want to emphasize is that if we’re creating more housing at that far end of the continuum, we can’t do it without also strengthening the steps that lead to it,” he said.

Taylor said Saskatoon is still without a “basic shelter,” according to Saskatchewan Housing Authority language. With all of the work going towards enhanced shelters in recent years, he’d like to see the city build a larger, more encompassing shelter space for people living on the streets, that just gets them through that day or night.

“Something that’s dreadfully missing in Saskatoon,” he said.

Councillors will consider three budget options in December’s annual budget deliberations, with each offering different levels of municipal funding: $2.525 million, $4.55 million or $8.6 million for 2026 and 2027.