Rental market remains tight across Saskatchewan, CMHC says

The Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation says Saskatchewan’s rental vacancy rate improved slightly over the last year but remains relatively tight.

The provincial vacancy rate sits at 2.7 per cent for cities with more than ten thousand residents, compared to 2.4 per cent in 2023.

In Regina, the vacancy rate increased from 1.4 per cent in 2023 to 2.7 per cent last year.

“We saw the rental housing industry kind of step up there, build enough units to meet some of the demand,” said Cameron Choquette, CEO of Rental Housing Saskatchewan.

“What we’re seeing though in Regina on the demand side is that it’s quite a bit less than Saskatoon. Anecdotally from our members, that’s what we’re hearing.”

In Saskatoon, Choquette says rental inventory remains mostly unchanged from 2023, sitting closer to 2.1 per cent vacancy.

“What that means is that supply and demand were relatively the same over the course of the last 12 months,” he said. “So rental housing developers were able to build enough rental housing to satisfy the demand.”

He says one bright spot in terms of inventory is in Prince Albert, where the vacancy rate sits at 5.5 per cent. But Choquette says it’s older inventory, and renters are eager for some new arrivals onto the market.

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“They’ve got a couple of apartment buildings that we hope to see completed this year that will certainly add to that new rental housing stock,” he said. “Because that’s what tenants in today’s day and age are looking for. They’re looking for that new stock that’s a bit shinier and newer, and comes with more amenities.”

The Saskatoon & Region Home Builders’ Association says rental construction slowed overall in 2024, a result of pressures on builders.

“Largely due to rising construction costs,” said Nicole Burgess, CEO of the Saskatoon & Region Home Builders’ Association.

“We still have ongoing, pressing labour challenges, and also the higher financing costs are making that quite hard for builders to be able to have their rental projects.”

Burgess says there’s a lot of uncertainty with a growing population and cautious builders worried about financial pressure points.

“There’s uncertainty with interest rates,” she said. “There’s still uncertainty with Trump and the impact of the trade war. But we also have a lot of chaos happening, obviously at the federal level, and the likely upcoming election. So, there’s just so much happening right now.”

Choquette says rental rates have increased an average of 7.9 per cent year-over-year in October in the province which he attributes to increased costs that landlords and rental providers have been absorbing for years.

But both say Saskatchewan remains one of the most affordable provinces to live in.