Sask. auditor says high social housing vacancy rates in Regina need to be addressed
Saskatchewan’s auditor says Regina had nearly 18 per cent of all social housing vacancies in the province at one point in 2024.
According to Auditor Tara Clemett’s report released on Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation had 534 vacant social housing units across the province, but Regina in particular accounted for 17.8 per cent of them in May of 2024.
Clemett says that indicates improved plans are needed for social housing in Regina to address high rates.
“Over the past several years, Regina not only had the most vacancies, but also the highest vacancy rate in corporation-owned units,” Clemett said in her report.
According to Clemett, in 2020, Regina’s vacancy rates among corporation-owned units was 18.1 per cent. That followed increases to 23.2 per cent and 24.9 per cent the next two years before dropping to 21.8 per cent and 16.2 per cent in 2023 and 2024.
“Through its Social Housing Program, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation aims to provide safe, adequate rental housing and subsidize rents based on financial need. The Corporation owned about 3,000 social housing units in Regina as of June 2024, and the Regina Housing Authority managed these units,” the report outlined.
In Tuesday’s report, Clemett made eight recommendations in total.
“The Saskatchewan Housing Corporation does not regularly assess how long Social Housing Program applicants wait or why, or types of units requested (e.g., number of bedrooms needed). It also does not sufficiently track and analyze its vacant units (e.g., types and duration of units under repair) or trends in demand to determine where to focus repairs,” the report outlined.
“Doing so might help the corporation identify changes needed to its housing portfolio and inform plans to get chronically vacant units back into service.”
Other recommendations made my Clemett included:
- Complete its forecast of long-term social housing needs in Regina to sufficiently identify gaps
- Identify and respond to possibly over-housed social housing tenants in Regina (i.e., tenants living in units too large for their needs)
- Enhance its operational reviews of the Regina Housing Authority
- Report progress on improving building conditions of social housing units in Regina
The full report can be found here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
New photos released of Luigi Mangione as prosecutors obtain arrest warrant for suspect in N.Y. shooting
Prosecutors were beginning to take steps Tuesday to bring the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO back to New York to face a murder charge while new details emerged about his life and how he was captured.
'Governor Justin Trudeau': Trump appears to mock PM in social media post
Amid a looming tariff threat, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump appears to be mocking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to him as 'Governor Justin Trudeau' in a post on Truth Social early Tuesday.
Canada announces new sanctions against Chinese, Russian officials
Past and present senior Chinese officials, as well as Russian officials and collaborators, are the subjects of new human rights sanctions, the Canadian government said Tuesday.
'I never got the impression he would self-destruct:' Friends of suspect in fatal CEO shooting left in shock
Months before police identified Luigi Mangione as the man they suspect gunned down a top health insurance CEO and then seemingly vanished from Midtown Manhattan, another disappearing act worried his friends and family.
Google pulls McDonald's negative reviews over arrest in UnitedHealth murder
Google on Monday removed derogatory reviews about McDonald's MCD.N after the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson was arrested at its restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police say a customer alerted a local employee about him.
Canadian man sentenced for embezzling US$1.4 million from employer and clients
U.S. authorities have sentenced a Canadian man to 20 months in prison for a US$1.4-million embezzlement scheme.
Freeland doesn't commit to meeting her own deficit target in fall economic statement
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is not committing to meeting the $40.1-billion deficit target she set for the government last year.
'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton receives Nobel Prize in physics
Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton and co-laureate John Hopfield have received the Nobel Prize for physics at a ceremony in Stockholm.
Prince Harry faces four days in witness box in Murdoch papers trial
Prince Harry could be quizzed for four days in the witness box by lawyers for Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) when his lawsuit against the publisher goes to trial next month, London's High Court was told on Tuesday.