SaskatchewanThe Saskatoon Open Door Society says more newcomers are stressed about rising rents as Saskatchewan is one of only two provinces seeing a increase in average asking rents.Open Door Society wants to build 112-unit apartment in downtown SaskatoonJeremy Warren · CBC News · Posted: Sep 23, 2025 2:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoSaskatchewan saw a 3.2 per cent increase in asking rents for all sizes of apartments and condos compared to last August, according to a report from Rentals.ca. (Bryan Eneas/CBC)The Saskatoon Open Door Society is worried persistent apartment rent hikes will prevent some newcomers from settling in the city, so the charity is building its own affordable housing.Saskatchewan continues to buck the national trend of rent declines in Canadian cities. The province led the nation with the highest increase in apartment rental prices, while the national average has dropped for 11 consecutive months, according to a recent report from Rentals.ca.There’s an obvious fix to the housing and affordability crisis, said Ahmad Majid, a manager at the Saskatoon Open Door Society.”Just add more stock into the community,” Majid told guest host Candice Lipski on CBC Radio’s Saskatoon Morning.”It’s a basic formula of supply and demand … so we are on a journey to build what we’re calling The Welcome Place, which is a 112-unit affordable housing structure right in downtown Saskatoon.”The development will offer options from single-resident studios to three- and four-bedroom family units, while hosting services such as child care and employment and language training. The Open Door Society is putting together funding for the project with an eye on opening in 2027.Majid said that while average rents in the province are still lower than in larger cities, the rapid increases are affecting some newcomers.”The reality of the housing market, you compare today to five or 10 years ago, or even really pre-COVID, it’s dramatically different,” he said.”And the amount of money that newcomers are able to work within their budget hasn’t changed as much. So it’s just adding more and more pressure to those individuals and families in terms of trying to make ends meet.”Saskatchewan saw a 3.2 per cent increase in asking rents for all sizes of apartments and condos compared to last August, according to the Rentals.ca report. Compared to two years ago, average asking rents are up 25.3 per cent.The average apartment rent in the province increased to $1,381, but that is still about $750 dollars below the national average. The average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Saskatoon hit $1,284 in August (up 5.5 per cent from August 2024), while in Regina the one-bedroom average hit $1,323 (up 0.4 per cent from August 2024).Last week, the provincial opposition cited the Rentals.ca report while calling for rent control legislation in Saskatchewan. NDP MLAs are gathering public feedback on the issue and plan to introduce a private member’s bill on rent control.The Opposition NDP is pitching rent control legislation as the solution to rising rents in Saskatchewan, and announced in July that it plans to introduce a rent control bill this fall. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC)In a previous statement, the provincial government said rent control would result in less construction of new units and make the affordable housing shortage worse.Renters are increasingly prioritizing affordability over accessibility and location, said Giacomo Ladas, associate director of communications for Rentals.ca. “They are willing to go where prices are more affordable and they will sacrifice job opportunities or living in the city they want and search for more affordable rents,” Ladas said during an interview with Saskatoon Morning.”Saskatchewan rents are 35 per cent lower than the national average. That’s quite significant. And I don’t know how that could not be something that encourages a newcomer to want to move in that province.”Ladas said changes to federal immigration policies and government initiatives aimed at building new units should help slow rent hikes as supply increases.”The problem is it does take years for supply to come into the market, but I do expect Saskatchewan to remain very affordable compared to the rest of the country, which on its own will be in high demand, especially for newcomers coming to this country,” Ladas said.Saskatoon MorningIt’s about $1600 to rent a two-bedroom in Saskatoon now, here’s what that means for rentersHost Stephanie Massicotte speaks with Angela Bishop from Camponi Housing Corporation about the hundreds of people waiting for affordable housing and how rising rents affect them.ABOUT THE AUTHORJeremy Warren is a reporter in Saskatoon. You can reach him at jeremy.warren@cbc.ca.
Newcomer advocate concerned as Sask. leads nation in apartment rent increases
