Key stakeholders of Saskatoon’s housing industry were surprised to learn a document outlining plans to mitigate homelessness included rent control. At Tuesday’s governance and priorities committee, councillors approved a 30-page Saskatoon Homelessness Action Plan that listed roughly 50 action items aimed at three longstanding goals from city administration: adding affordable housing supply, addressing barriers and supporting collaboration. A couple of the action items called for the establishment of a renters advocate and to advocate for a rent control policy. “I think there were several players that were blindsided with that report,” Saskatchewan Realtors Association CEO Chris Guérette said Wednesday. The idea of rent control may have caught city administration off guard as well. During Tuesday’s meeting, city manager Jeff Jorgenson mentioned rent control being in an earlier draft of the report before he was corrected by a nearby councillor saying it was included in the final version. He quickly outlined how the report was community-driven and meant to gather a variety of community partners, synthesize the perspectives and list them in a document with actionable goals. “We are only recommending confirmation of the city’s lane in the plan, which is very specifically laid out in the report,” Jorgenson said. With one of the central focuses of the action plan being increasing collaboration, leaders in the provincial housing industry would have appreciated a heads up before the report was made public. “You don’t tell your key players that you are an action item in those reports, that’s not collaboration, and that’s not building trust,” Guérette said. According to the report, 113,000 or more Saskatoon residents are renters. The report says those people are three or more times more likely to become at-risk of homelessness in the future due to “market increases and affordability.” Rental Housing Saskatchewan says rent control is not the way to reverse those numbers. “Rent control doesn’t work because it discourages investment; it worsens affordability, it makes waitlists even longer and more expensive for the families that are looking for housing,” Rental Housing Saskatchewan CEO Landon Field said. “It’s outside of the city’s jurisdiction. And ultimately it would be something that would be a counterpoint to what the plan is actually trying to improve, which is more housing availability for the people that need it most.” Fields says the homelessness plan needs to focus on data that can reduce homelessness rather than vilinizing housing providers or creating distrust. The action plan says nearly 40 per cent of Saskatoon residents have a household income of $68,000 or less. The maximum affordable rent for a household income ranging between $42,500 and $68,000 is $1,700. Colleen Chrsiopherson-Cote, co-ordinator of the Saskatoon Poverty Reduction Partnership, urged the city to be bold and use its limited levers to increase affordability for those that need it most. “If you’re a leader, it doesn’t mean you’re doing all the work,” Christopherson-Cote said. “It means that you have the capacity, clout, to convene and catalyze and coordinate space. And the city holds that leadership role.” Fields says rent control shouldn’t be looked at until other affordability measures are considered at City Hall. “We know that major costs have increased in other areas, like property taxes have increased more than rents in the last ten years in our city,” he said. While all parties agree more housing options are needed, Guérette says the city — and its past decisions — affect affordability even if it takes many years to materialize. “There is a responsibility from our municipal governments to truly understand that impact and the levers that they do have within their control,” she said. Whether it’s through levies, tax increases, changes to building codes or slow-moving red tape — costs add up and are often passed on to homeowners and renters. “Are we satisfied with the investment we’ve put in and how much its moved the dial, yes or no?” Guérette said. “And if the answer is no, let’s keep at it.” Despite the debate that has followed Tuesday’s meeting, councillors and administration want no part in weighing in on a topic that would need provincial legislation amendments. “I think it’s a very political issue, that perhaps residents would be best to take up and organizations would be best to take up with their provincial representatives. I don’t think the province really cares what the City of Saskatoon has to say about it, if you want my honest opinion,” Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer said.
