Saskatoon·AnalysisRegina residents are facing a proposed property tax explosion of 15.69 per cent. And the increase is not derived from a massive expansion of services. Like Saskatoon’s spike, it would pay merely to maintain services.Saskatoon’s proposed increase of 7.43 per cent seems minuscule compared to Regina’s gargantuan 15Phil Tank · CBC News · Posted: Nov 24, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block expressed some envy on Wednesday over the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Grey Cup victory parade in Regina. She likely doesn’t envy the capital city’s proposed 15 per cent property tax increase. (Kirk Fraser/CBC)Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block expressed some envy Wednesday over the Saskatchewan Roughriders Grey Cup victory parade.“I was so proud and excited [about the Grey Cup win] and jealous that Regina got the parade,” the mayor of Saskatchewan’s largest city told her colleagues at city council. “That seems very unfair.”As Block leads council into her first two-year budget debate as mayor this week, any jealousy toward the rival city to the south has likely evaporated.Block and Saskatoon council are wrestling with a preliminary property tax increase of 7.43 per cent next year and 5.92 per cent in 2027. Next year’s tax hike, if left unchanged, would tie for the highest in Saskatoon history for civic services, matching the 2014 increase.Bureaucrats in Regina, however, apparently saw that and said: “Hold our taxpayer-funded beers.”Regina residents are facing a proposed property tax explosion of 15.69 per cent. That increase is not derived from a massive expansion of services. Like Saskatoon’s, it would pay merely to maintain existing services.Many cities find themselves struggling to pay their bills in the inflationary post-pandemic environment.But Regina’s preliminary increase ranks as absolutely astronomical, even in the current landscape of rising costs.Rookie Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski will lead a council of mostly fellow rookies in trying to beat down the tax hike. But Regina property owners should not get their hopes up too high.Regina’s proposed 2025 tax increase started out at 8.5 per cent and was later reduced by council — but only to 7.33 per cent. Notably, it came in just below Saskatoon’s highest historical hike.To perform a similar feat for 2026 would require some major chainsaw action — maybe cut the fire department or something like that, and hope nobody notices.But Bachynski and his colleagues likely agree with a statement Block made last week at a business luncheon: that property tax is outdated as a viable way to fund growing cities.Nothing compares to ReginaIn Calgary, property taxes are forecast to jump 3.6 per cent in 2026, which might sound low until you consider that they will rise by 5.8 per cent for residential properties. Last year, the city’s portion of Calgary property taxes rose just 3.4 per cent, but the provincial share climbed by 17.5 per cent, so overall taxes soared by 8.9 per cent.No wonder some Alberta municipalities want the province to collect its own property taxes.Up in Edmonton, city property taxes are set to rise by 6.5 per cent next year after increasing by 5.7 per cent this year.Amid all of these big tax surges, Vancouver is striving for no property tax increase next year — after hikes of 20 per cent over the last three years, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. But such a tax freeze would mean steep service cuts and utility fee increases.In Winnipeg, a property tax increase of 3.5 per cent is expected next year, but that follows a 5.95 per cent jump this year.Toronto is coming off eyepopping property tax jumps of 9.5 per cent in 2024 and 6.9 per cent this year.So Canadian cities have been compelled to impose some big tax increases in recent years, but nothing compares to what is being considered in Regina.Traditionally, Regina’s property tax increases have trailed those in Saskatoon. But maybe the provincial capital is paying the price for keeping taxes low for political reasons.Block issued a warning at the business luncheon: “Too often we are pinching pennies to spend dollars later.”Perhaps that will set the stage for budget talks where Saskatoon’s city council will consider a whopping 108 options to reduce the property tax increase.These options range from raising fees for recreation centres, reducing bus service and even permanently closing the 60-year-old George Ward Pool, which would leave Saskatoon with only three outdoor pools. Regina has five. Some tough decisions lie ahead in Saskatoon, but they will seem mild compared to what awaits Regina in mid-December when council begins debating its budget.The best Christmas gift council could give taxpayers — a property tax increase below 10 per cent, which still sounds more like a lump of coal — might require Santa himself to intervene.ABOUT THE AUTHORPhil Tank is an award-winning journalist based in Saskatoon. He can be reached at phil.tank@cbc.ca.
Proposed Regina property tax hike gives Saskatoon residents less reason for envy
