Rent increases in Regina and Saskatoon rank among the highest in Canada and co-operative housing can provide a solution to the growing crisis.
The housing crisis has left no part of the country untouched. Only a few short years ago, the relatively affordable housing market in Saskatchewan was seen almost as a natural feature of the province, akin to wheatfields and endless blue skies.
Of course, some have long struggled to find safe and affordable housing. Conversely, even today you can buy or rent in Saskatchewan for less than in, say, Toronto.
In Saskatoon, only five per cent of rentals can be afforded by households that represent the lowest 25 per cent of income earners.
And vacancy rates — the proportion of rental units available to rent — decreased for the seventh consecutive year across the province.
So more than in any other place in Canada, people are on the move. There was no major city in Canada where turnovers — people moving out and others moving in — were as high as in Regina or Saskatoon, with 32 per cent and 37 per cent of rental units, respectively, in 2023.
People are being pushed out directly or indirectly by rising rents. To pay the rent and feed their kids. To have enough left over to help an aging parent or fix a needed vehicle.
But moving upends people’s lives. Kids fall behind when they change schools. The neighbours who helped you out are no longer nearby. The time you spend with your family evaporates if it takes you twice as long to get to work.
Renting, once the stepping-stone to home ownership, is less affordable and more difficult. But homeownership itself is out of reach. Half of all households do not have incomes that would qualify them for a mortgage on an average priced home in Saskatchewan.
Renting or owning do not need to be the only options for Saskatchewan families. Co-operative housing is something in between.
Co-op housing is more affordable and secure than private rental housing because it operates on a not-for-profit basis, so rents only increase to cover costs.
Co-op residents are members, not tenants. Members make decisions about their community and homes, providing the opportunity for input that renters only dream about.
Best of all, co-operative housing is not new. Rather, it is a decades-long success story, with 17 housing co-operatives in Saskatchewan for 840 households. Unsurprisingly, demand is high; one co-op in Saskatoon has already committed to-be-developed units to eager new members.
While public investment is required to build housing co-ops and to ensure access to households with a mix of incomes, research shows co-ops grow more affordable over time. And because they are driven by purpose, not profit, they invest in their housing so that it is there forever.
A new federal program is investing in the construction of co-operative housing. If Saskatchewan stepped up with its own commitment, the power of leverage could see many co-operative homes developed in Saskatchewan, in line with the proportion we see in other jurisdictions, maybe more.
Dallas Alderson is the director of public affairs and policy at the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and James Gilliard is the board president of the Co-operative Housing Association of Saskatchewan.
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