Needing thousands of new housing units by 2050 to keep up with its growing population, the City of Regina is boosting its support for infill development and incentivizing projects. Approved as part of the 2025-26 city budget, Regina created the Housing Land Bank, a $5.5 million fund aimed at increasing development in already established neighbourhoods. “The City of Regina is committed to taking the actions required to make infill development easier and more attractive to developers and residents,” city manager of housing Bill Neher told reporters Tuesday. “We will continue to engage and work with industry stakeholders to explore and implement new tools and services that will help the city achieve that goal.” In 2025, the city approved 1,674 building permits. Of those, 456 were infill developments. That is a significant increase from 2021, when just 40 permits were approved. Development is also happening across the city, with 42 per cent of approvals in the Dewdney East area and 24 per cent in Arcola East. Core neighbourhoods like Cathedral, Heritage and the Downtown city centre made up 27 per cent. However, the city struggled to make waves in North Central. In 2023, 32 housing starts were approved by the city in that neighbourhood, but last year it did not approve a single application. “Depending on the neighbourhood, it’s easier and more challenging in others,” said Neher. “When you look at infill in neighbourhoods like Cathedral, it’s very easy; there’s already an established culture. When we look at Heritage or North Central, it’s more of a challenge.” “We are actively involved with residents in Heritage to make significant changes and making it a more desirable neighbourhood to live in,” he added. The Goldman Group of Companies recently opened an apartment building in Heritage. College Manor brought a 27-unit apartment to the area; six of which are affordable units. “The tax abatements are very important in encouraging for infill development,” said Goldman president Robert Goldman. “It’s one of the reasons this project was made possible and financially feasible.” Goldman adds the incentives are welcomed as construction costs soar alongside the growing housing demand. “Infill development is a challenge in the best of economic times,” he said. “There’s definitely a demand; lots of people want to live in the core neighborhoods they grew up in, where they work, where they go to school. There are some challenges with infill involvement and that’s why the city programs help.” The city also hopes to revitalize its core neighbourhoods. Michelle Coghill, the executive director of MayBell Developments, recently built a housing complex in the Heritage neighbourhood aimed at giving single mothers a safe, affordable home. She hoped infill developers can be a large part of the city’s efforts. “It’s important we focus on the shared goals we have for what we want to see for the city,” Coghill said. “And it makes sense to focus on the available land we already have so we can be closely connected to the schools, the services and the transit routes already established.” Neher believes the land bank will help. “It’s about changing the perceptions and changing the ideas of what living in those neighbourhoods look like,” he added. Regina’s 2024 growth plan projected it would need 56,900 new housing units to support a population of 370,000 by 2050. The goal is for 40 per cent of those builds to be infill. However, the 456 approvals last year represented just 27 per cent of housing starts – well short of its long-term goal. The city says its next steps for increasing developments in already established neighbourhoods is to focus on nuisance and underutilized properties.
