Saskatoon mayoral candidate Don Atchison wants to expand the city’s current attainable housing program if re-elected.
On Tuesday, Atchison stated his intention to grow the program to include a wider variety of housing options in areas throughout the city.
“We need to look forward to the year 2023, where in fact we should have 8000 attainable, affordable housing units in the city,” Atchison said.
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The city’s housing program should support singles, couples and families with children, Atchison said.
He said the city should consider ‘tiny homes,’ but stressed that he wasn’t referring to the trailer-style tiny houses that have grown in worldwide popularity in recent years.
“What I see happening instead is being able to build a structure that would have 330 square-foot tiny homes in it, maybe all the way up to 880 square-foot homes in it,” Atchison said.
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Properties wouldn’t be owned by the city, Atchison said, but city officials can offer tax abatements and cash incentives to developers.
Election day is Oct. 26.