This Saskatoon senior is getting priced out of the rental market

A Saskatoon senior living in a rental apartment is wondering why his monthly rent is drastically rising in a few months.

With a discrepancy between supply and demand in the housing market, he’s asking why more isn’t being done to secure housing for those on low or fixed incomes.

In February, Dwayne Schwab received a letter from Avenue Living Communities that rent on his one-bedroom Diefenbaker Drive apartment is going up June 1, and he can’t do anything about it.

“This is the way it is. At the end of your lease, your rent is going up $350 a month,” Schwab told CTV News.

He lives off $2,000 a month from pension and old age security, the increase puts the cost of his apartment out of reach.

“I’m on a fixed income and can’t afford it.”

Schwab has only lived in his current building two months. Before that, he was in a different Avenue Living rental, before he was forced out by a similar bump in rent.

“So I moved here where the rent was $1,000 a month, and within eight months they want to raise the rent to $1,350 here,” he said.

An Avenue Living apartment building on Diefenbaker Drive (Carla Shynkaruk / CTV News)

The province did not have a representative to speak on camera, but told CTV News in an email that it has two programs currently running to help address housing availability and affordability for homeowners and renters — a grant program to incentive the construction of secondary or garage suites, and a PST rebate on new home construction.

They said the two initiatives complement a federal program announced last year, target different areas of the housing continuum, and optimize conditions in Saskatchewan.

In its statement, the province made clear it had no interest in rent control legislation.

“Saskatchewan doesn’t have rent control. However, there are provisions in the Residential Tenancies Act that require landlords give tenants proper notice of rent increases.”

Because Schwab’s lease is up at the end of May, in this case, the rules are being followed.

Avenue Living didn’t provide someone for an in-person interview, but provided an emailed statement to CTV News.

According to the company, it has held off on rent increases in Saskatoon for the past few years but now the situation has changed.

“Given significant inflationary pressures for the housing industry with utilities, taxes, interest rates, insurance, labour, and materials going up at record paces, we are now needing to realign our rents to the market,” the email said.

Avenue also added that across its 1,500 suites in Saskatoon, rent aligns and is competitive with the rest of the market.

Regardless of their reasonsing, Schwab stressed that medication and food are priorities in his monthly budgeting, and this is forcing him to move to a friend’s house.

Schwab questions why rent isn’t more accessible for people like him, who are trying desperately to get by.

"After the rent, I get $650 a month to live on. You can't do that. Not at the price of groceries and everything, and not have a life.”