Will Ottawa's affordable housing money work for Saskatoon? Experts are cautiously optimistic
CBC
Farrah Ladoux says housing has become a privilege, not a right, in Saskatoon. The mother of three has been looking for a place to live since March and is priced out of the market.
Saskatoon city council has approved zoning amendments needed to qualify for $41.3 million from Ottawa's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). The changes will allow fourplexes in residential areas across the city and four-storey developments along transit corridors. Experts and community groups say the plan can help families like Ladoux.
With disability and child welfare benefits, Ladoux receives slightly less than $1,600 a month.
"Everything goes to rent, and my mom would help lots with groceries just so my kids can eat," she said, noting her previous two apartments were infested with cockroaches, but she had no choice but to stay.
"Every single month it was always [a question] whether I short the rent $100 so I could buy food for my daughter. If I didn't eat that was fine, but as long as my daughter had something to eat."
Ladoux is now put up at her mother's one-bedroom place and her kids are living separately. Her everyday routine is to get up at 7 a.m. and start applying for rentals, but it has all been in vain.
"The rent is just outrageous. It's hard to find anything under what I can afford, and I even do apply for things that I can't afford thinking I'll be able to manage it somehow, at least I'll have a place," she said.
"But I can't even find anything. There are no places."
Ladoux said she is hopeful that HAF will lead to more affordable solutions.
"There just needs to be more housing and affordable housing, because I know quite a few people who, just because of housing, are separated from their families."
Kristen Thoms, executive director with Quint Development Corporation, said affordable housing is a critical issue in Saskatoon, with a low vacancy rate often putting people in precarious positions.
"We had 1,163 applications for housing last year. We only had 18 available units throughout the whole year to fill. So there is quite a disconnect in terms of the need versus the supply," she said.
She said current demand is "on pace like last year, but the availability is almost lower," with a zero to 1 per cent vacancy.
Thoms said the HAF will allow Quint to expand its housing portfolio, specifically within the core neighbourhoods.
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