The Saskatchewan government is ending its affordable housing program, a move the opposition says will hurt many low-income families.
The 3,400 affordable housing units the government owns in Regina, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert will be converted to social housing for the working poor and welfare recipients. A total of 552 people are currently on the waitlist for affordable housing in those four cities.
The units were intended for low-income earners, but the province says many can afford to live elsewhere. Those people will be squeezed out through rent increases over the next three years. Those earning the least will be allowed to stay, while vacated units will go to welfare recipients who the government says need housing the most.
Art Fisher has lived in a government affordable housing unit for the past 11 years, ever since he quit teaching to care for his mother. The Regina retiree now gets a pension and works four days a week at a grocery store.
“It’s been quite comfortable and, in terms of rental payments, I knew what they were and could expect annual rental increases,” Fisher said.
Fisher pays about $600 a month for a one-bedroom suite. The government says it wants to move rents closer to market value for those who can afford it. The new formula will gradually adjust rents to 30 per cent of a tenant’s monthly income. That would encourage higher-income earners to move out.
"We will then sort of reevaluate and then see if it's worked and that we are getting people that are transitioning into the private market,” said Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer. “Of course, ultimately we want these units for those most in need of them."
Saskatchewan’s NDP Opposition says the end of the affordable housing program will be a hardship for low-income earners.
"They should be building more housing, more affordable housing that fits within that niche for people who are working, who may have low to moderate incomes," said NDP housing critic David Forbes.
Based on a report by CTV Regina's Wayne Mantyka
