A northern Saskatchewan Opposition MLA believes pending changes to social housing will result in an exodus of working families from the province’s north.
New Democrat Buckley Belanger notes people who currently live in SaskHousing units pay a maximum of $800 a month in rent under current rules.
But Belanger says they will soon be forced to pay much more under a new formula that amounts to 30% of their gross income.
He says northerners with high-paying mining jobs will look to move south, because there are no other housing options in their communities:
“So the net effect is that once these changes are implemented, then you’re going to see a lot of working families saying: ‘Well, where do we go?’. And then you’re going to start losing these working families, as the only option they have is to move out of these communities and move to the cities where they’re able to rent for a lot less. And, therefore, you have a drain of good, working class people from these northern communities.”
Minister responsible June Draude says northern communities were consulted when the changes were being drafted — but there will be more consultation as the government works to come up with options for northern Saskatchewan:
“The consultations that took place as we were developing the strategy, was focused a lot in the north. We had about 25% of our consultation meetings in northern Saskatchewan, where they underlined some of their issues. So, I’m really glad we had this opportunity to talk to some of the northern leaders to see how we could work with them and with industry to develop options for the north.”
Draude says more houses will have to be built in the province’s north — and she expects the private sector to play a role in that.
She also notes that one in every 12 houses in the north, not on reserves, are social housing units — compared to one-in-35 homes in southern Saskatchewan.