Advocates say Regina housing crisis at all-time high, city identifies new permanent shelter space

Advocates for the city’s most vulnerable say Regina’s housing crisis is at an all-time high. This comes as the city announced they found a location for a new permanent homeless shelter space.

Carmichael Outreach has been operating a warming shelter through the winter. It closes at the end of May.

Development Coordinator Chrysta Garner said more than 3,000 people were beneficiaries of the space in just two months.

“The need is there,” she told CTV News. “There’s too many people who are out on the street.”

Garner said demand for a new permanent shelter space with emergency services is increasing.

“This isn’t just about our houseless community,” she went on to say. “All of our resources are swamped.”

The city currently runs a 55-bed temporary emergency shelter out of the NEST, formerly the YMCA on 13th Avenue.

It has been open since January 2023 but the agreement ends in July 2025.

On Wednesday, City Manager Niki Anderson said her administration team has identified a new space for a permanent shelter.

“As the word implies, there’s certainty to it,” she told executive committee. “A permanent shelter is better than thinking about what we’re going to do with 50 people next July.”

Anderson said the current space costs the city about $70,000 per month.

She added purchasing a permanent space would mean a one-time cost of $7.5 million but operating would decrease to just $22,000 a month when open.

Regina has already received $3 million from the federal government to fund the purchase and is hoping to get the same from the province, leaving just $1.5 million to be funded by the municipality.

“Having $6 million in investment on something that costs $7.5 [million] is good value,” Anderson said.

Ward 2 coun. Bob Hawkins ranted to fellow committee members that this was not the responsibility of the city.

“This is a job for the provincial government,” he said. “Given the demands of our core [city] obligations, we will not be able to do the job.”

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Hawkins claimed the province has unloaded their responsibility onto the city.

“I am not prepared to accept this download,” he said.

The provincial Ministry of Social Services said they’re prepared to assist the project.

“It takes all three levels of government, as well as our community-based organizations who often step up to operate the spaces,” Minister of Social Services Gene Makowsky said.

Garner believes collaboration is key, but off-loading responsibility and hoping someone else will step-up is leaving more people out on the street.

“You can’t say it’s municipal or provincial or federal,” she said. “It’s everyone’s responsibility.”

The city has yet to release the exact location of the new permanent shelter.

It is expected to be made public on June 7 when the agenda for council’s next meeting is published online.