SASKATOON – Representatives from the federal and provincial governments visited three northern villages last week to invest over $1.5-million into Saskatchewan affordable housing.
The Saskatchewan NDP has taken the Saskatchewan government to task, saying it had pushed the cost off itself and onto the communities.
“This government simply doesn’t understand the precarious situation families and children are in as a result of the lack of housing, both affordable and at market rates,” said Buckley Belanger, MLA for Athabasca.
On Sept. 10, construction started for five single family homes in Île-à-la-Crosse, Sask.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.4 million, with the federal and provincial governments jointly contributing over $651,000. The balance of funding will come from a combination of municipal funding, cash and land equity, and mortgage financing.
Similar costs are being pushed onto the villages of La Loche and Buffalo Narrows for housing developments, according to the NDP.
In La Loche, officials announced the opening for a project that consists of two semi-detached homes. This project will provide housing to low income single-parent families in a community.
Both governments provided over $370,000 through the Canada-Saskatchewan Investment in Affordable Housing Agreement. The La Loche project will cost over $529,000.
Buffalo Narrows also had a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 10 for a four-plex that costs nearly $723,000.
The governments provided nearly $500,000 to the project.
NDP say this partial funding marks a change from the past model when provincial and federal governments funded projects entirely.
The province disputes there has been a model change.
“No, this is a continuation of a model that’s been in place for many years, it’s based upon what the tenant brings to the table as well as the province,” said Don Allen, president and CEO of Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC) and assistant deputy minister for housing in social services.
Belanger also questioned what will happen to families in communities that can’t afford to fund half of affordable housing projects.
“This province works very closely with all of the proponents to make sure they have viable business plans and they know where their distribution is coming from and are able to live up to their part of the agreement,” said Allen.
“We don’t see any challenges with any of the three proponents in that regard.”
Belanger added that more affordable units, more market rate housing and the revival of programs like the Rental Purchase Option (RPO) are needed to address the problem.
The RPO allowed northern renters with excellent track records to achieve home ownership through a rent-to-own program.
Allen says the RPO had “some” success over a decade but was evaluated and terminated in 2011.
Since 2011, the provincial government says it has invested $326 million to develop over 5,600 units and repaired over 24,300 Saskatchewan homes.
“Northern Saskatchewan has a growing population, a young population, of a lot of people who want to stay in their home communities and live in their communities and that’s why we continue to look for opportunities to develop housing in the north, whether its rental housing or home ownership,” said Allen.
The province owns and operates 1,400 off-reserve homes in the north.
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