Soaring social housing vacancy rates a Sask. Party failure, NDP says

Documents show more housing units are sitting vacant in Saskatchewan, a problem the Opposition NDP says is a result of government mismanagement.

The Saskatchewan Housing Corporation documents, obtained by the NDP, reveal the vacancy rate of government housing has more than doubled during the past 10 years.

The documents show there were 1,193 vacant affordable homes for seniors and families in 2012, resulting in a seven per cent vacancy rate. That rose to 3,161 vacant affordable homes, or an 18 per cent vacancy rate, by the end of last year.

"This is a government that has simply failed on this file, and they've failed in a spectacular way," said Opposition NDP leader Carla Beck in front of a boarded-up townhouse run by the housing corporation.

"And I think we're seeing the impacts of that in communities right across the province."

NDP social services critic Meara Conway said the boarded-up home could be used by one of the families on the province's growing waitlist to access affordable housing.

"This is like a nice, quiet cul-de-sac," Conway said. "There would be a lot of people who would want to live in this house, so fix it up, find a family that is on the wait list."

The vacancy rate is more acute in the province's major cities. In Regina, 691 homes were vacant at the end of last year, resulting in a 23 per cent vacancy rate. In 2012, there were 116 vacant homes for a rate of four per cent.

Saskatoon saw 327 vacant homes, or a 13 per cent vacancy rate, in 2022. In 2012, there were 75 vacant for a rate of three per cent.

Smaller cities — such as Prince Albert, Yorkton and Swift Current — also have vacancy rates in the double digits.

Conway said this comes at a time when homelessness is on the rise in Saskatchewan, noting a tent encampment outside Regina City Hall has become a backdrop of various issues in the city and province.

Changes to social income support payment programs have also left many who require assistance worse off, she added.

"The people of our province deserve better," Conway said.

The Saskatchewan Party government has said it's concerned about the high vacancy rate and that it's working to fill the homes, spending roughly $75 million per year on maintenance.