Saskatchewan needs to build approximately 141,500 housing units in the next eight years. That’s according to the Saskatchewan Housing Continuum Network if the province is going to meet projected population increases.

Saskatchewan REALTORS Association (SRA) CEO Chris Guérette says they worked with an economist to come up with the number and considered two different averaging systems that being the per capita housing average from the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) and the current average of housing units produced in Saskatchewan.

The Housing Continuum Network contends that the lack of available homes for sale has become the market’s main issue in Saskatchewan while at the same time the type of property in demand differs between communities. For instance in Regina, housing inventory is still balanced while Saskatoon has a shortage of single-family homes. In addition to shortages elsewhere in the province, benchmark prices continue to go up.

The CEO of Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan says they’ve been watching housing markets in other provinces like Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, where housing shortages and ever-increasing prices are chronic, and where, because of that, more and more people are being pushed out of the market.

CEO Denis Perrault says, “It’s imperative we understand the Saskatchewan housing supply reality and start preparing now to avoid the kinds of challenges so many of our neighbours are facing.”

The Housing Continuum Network is urging provincial and local governments to act on issues that limit supply and artificially increase prices.