Saskatoon home builders' group wants to see 'bolder step' from province to ease housing crunch

The Saskatoon and Region Home Builders' Association (SRHBA) is calling on the province to follow the federal government's lead in removing tax from the construction of new rental buildings.

The CEO for the association, Nicole Burgess calls the federal move a “positive step towards tackling the bigger issue of housing affordability.”

“What we think this is going to do is hopefully improve the viability of some purpose-built rental projects that potentially make or break depending on funding,” said Burgess. “We do remain concerned that it just might not be enough.”

The SRHBA would like to see the province “take a bolder step” in helping with the province's housing crunch.

“Eliminating PST on all new residential construction, whether it be for rental or homeownership,” said Burgess.

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Burgess says this will stimulate the housing sector and possibly alleviate some of the undue financial burdens homebuyers face. For her, she can’t think of a better time for the provincial government to take that step.

“Right now what we have seen is there has been a substantial increase to the cost of construction … inflation, cost of labour, we've seen about a 35 per cent increase since 2019,” said Burgess.

The Canadian Tax Payers Federation also wants to see the province remove PST.

“Tax relief isn't something we usually expect out of Ottawa so I think it'd be good if the premier took notes here and did a similar thing to reduce those costs for housing,” said Gage Haubrich, the prairie director for the federation.

“They added this initially in 2017 and it was a bad decision then, housing has only gotten more expensive.”

In 2017 the province imposed PST on construction labour and materials. According to the SRHBA, “the Government of Saskatchewan recognized that parts of the new home building sector were having difficulty adjusting to the new PST tax regime.”

A rebate was introduced in April 2020, providing a 42 per cent rebate of the PST on newly constructed on homes less than $450,000. That rebate ended this April.

In a statement to CTV News, Saskatchewan's finance minister Donna Harpauer says “Our government believes that the broad application of PST ensures that a fairly applied, reliable, and sustainable source of revenue is available to finance vital public services, including grants to the municipal sector, health care and education.”

She also criticized the federal government for implementing the policy “with no regard for consultation or engagement.”

According to the SRHBA the city is at a record low inventory level for renters.