PRINCE ALBERT — The city of Prince Albert has the largest vacancy rate among Saskatchewan’s largest cities according to a new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
In 2024, the Prince Albert vacancy rate was 5.6 per cent, up slightly from 5.4 in 2023 according to CMHC reporting. Regina has a vacancy rate of 2.7 per cent compared to 14 per cent in 2023, with Saskatoon posting a vacancy rate of 2.4 per cent in 2024, which is unchanged from the year prior.
Rental Housing Saskatchewan CEO Cameron Choquette said the slightly larger year-over-year vacancy rate could not be attributed to any systemic changes.
"I would say just by the looks of the stats vacancy (rates) increased really in two and three-bedroom units, just slightly,” he said. “I mean, we're only talking about .2 decimal points, so although the number of units under construction in 2024 is only 28 in Prince Albert, compared to 190 in 2023, I think we can attribute the slight vacancy growth to just some natural churn in the market. (It’s) nothing really systemic or structural.”
The CMHC is reporting a provincial vacancy rate of 2.7 per cent in Saskatchewan's cities with populations over 10,000 people, compared to 2.4 per cent in 2023.
"Prince Albert certainly has a bit more vacancy rate than 2.7, so that leaves PA having, hopefully, enough housing for growth to welcome new residents,” Choquette said.
"From an anecdotal point of view, what we hear from our members in Prince Albert is a lot of that housing is on the older side and there isn't a significant amount of purpose-built rental growth in PA.”
CMHC’s Rental Market Report examines the purpose-built rental market and condominium apartment market annually, surveying rental housing providers from large municipalities across the province.
The report indicates that across the province, rents have risen 7.9 per cent on average from October 2023 to October 2024.
Rent increases cover the significant costs that rental housing providers are facing such as utilities, government fees and taxes, debt-servicing costs, rent arrears, damages, and insurance.
According to Choquette, even amidst these rent increases, Saskatchewan remains the most affordable province in Canada to rent a home.
As of November 2024, according to CMHC, there are 2,980 apartment and row housing units under construction in Saskatoon. In Regina, there are 1,003.
Choquette said that rental growth in Prince Albert could come from completion of a couple of apartment buildings. He added that with the City of Prince Albert pushing growth with the Victoria Hospital expansion and The Yard district the higher vacancy rate could be viewed as a positive.
“Prince Albert looks to be a bit on the healthier side currently,” he said.
At the end of the year 2023, there were 174 apartment units under construction in Prince Albert. There were eight as of the end of 2024.
“What we hope to see is those apartment units completed in 2025, which will bring some much-needed new rental units into the market in PA to complement the existing stock that's, on average, older in nature,” Choquette said.
“I think it's important to recognize that the city of Prince Albert is growing and that housing development is really important in that growth, so whatever the city of Prince Albert can do to incentivize that housing growth is really important.”
Choquette added that a steady vacancy rate at the current rate is positive. If it stays at that rate, he said, it should be positive for Prince Albert.
"(If) that vacancy remains steady at about five and a half per cent and hopefully we can continue to see new housing growth to replace that existing stock that will eventually need a significant investment or we run the risk of that vacancy rate coming down too much, which we want to prevent in the long term,” he said.
