There are usually two sides to every story but often only one gets all the attention. A case in point is the conversation around the latest population numbers.
They were pretty good here in Saskatchewan – the best growth we’d seen in a century.
The other side of that story, though, is where do we put all the people. Housing starts and population growth are not moving at the same pace.
A recent report from RBC suggested the national shortage could quadruple in the next three years, particularly in the big cities.
Here in Saskatchewan, we welcomed nearly 30,000 new residents last year. The majority will no doubt live in the larger cities with Regina and Saskatoon accounting for more than half – or close to 20,000.
With an average household size of 2.5, we’d theoretically need 8,000 new units to accommodate them. But the latest figures from CMHC have the annualized rate at just over 5,000.
In other words, more people will be pushed towards renting and with starts unable to keep up to population growth, rental rates can only go higher.
