FAQs

The City’s current Comprehensive Housing Strategy, which was approved in 2013, no longer reflects the current housing situation. 

On the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Housing Strategy, the City began the Housing Needs Assessment to better understand future growth and the housing market. The Housing Needs Assessment called for a renewed Housing Strategy to reflect modern conditions.

The City uses strategic documents to guide decisions about how resources are assigned to projects. Those strategic documents shape bylaws and more detailed operational policies by providing the “why” behind a decision. The Housing Strategy will inform the City’s actions under bylaws and policies such as The Regina Zoning Bylaw, 2019, the Building Bylaw and the Housing Incentives Policy.

Regina experienced high population growth between 2021 and 2024, when the city grew by nearly 21,400 people. Competition for available units led to rising rent and higher home prices since 2021, and there are concerns about whether the kinds of available homes are suitable for the diverse needs of Regina’s residents. Going forward, the number of housing units built per year will need to roughly double to accommodate recent growth and meet the needs of forecasted population growth. The new Housing Strategy provides an opportunity for the City to consider whether regulations, finance, advocacy, information sharing or other approaches could address these kinds of issues.

The HAF is a $4 billion federal funding program that provides funding to municipalities to increase building permit approvals and housing construction. While the City of Regina’s Housing Strategy is not directly related, it will support the work that has already been accomplished through the HAF. The new strategy will explore additional ways to support Regina’s housing needs beyond expanding housing options and will serve as the guiding document into the future.

The Housing Needs Assessment was conducted in 2024. It identified issues in Regina’s housing market such as a shortage of construction skills and labour, rising costs and a mismatch between the types of units being provided and what is needed. In particular, the Assessment found Regina residents need more affordable housing options, bigger units for larger and multi-generational families, smaller units for single people, accessible housing for those with physical and sensory disabilities and supportive housing for people who are living with mental health and substance use challenges. The Housing Strategy will explore how the City can support diverse housing options and help the construction industry adapt to the challenges it faces.

Population density is a measurement which refers to how many individuals live within a certain area.

Recent changes to The Regina Zoning Bylaw, 2019 have expanded options to gradually increase density. For example, the amendments allow for more housing units to be built on residential lots in established neighbourhoods and taller buildings to be built on sites designated for mid and high-density development. The changes also allow housing such as fourplexes in most areas of Regina as well as apartment buildings along major transit routes and near transit hubs.

The Housing Strategy will support this kind of development. It is not anticipated that the zoning changes will increase density beyond what is already allowed. Instead, the Housing Strategy is intended to result in more diverse housing options.

While the development of new communities is important to help grow the city’s housing supply, it is also important to ensure that development in established areas continues to provide options that meet the needs of people moving to our city or who want to stay here. Restricting housing options in established areas limits where people can live, reduces citywide housing availability and can lead to higher rents and home prices. Relying solely on new growth areas to accommodate additional population also requires the City to take on new infrastructure and the costs related to its future maintenance, operation and replacement.

Enabling diverse housing options citywide will ensure families have opportunities to enter the housing market and live near existing schools and community centers, provide options for seniors who want to age in their communities and allow students and workers to live close to education and employment opportunities. It will also make efficient use of existing infrastructure, services and amenities and ensure our established neighbourhoods are more resilient to change over time.

The Housing Strategy will consider housing across the entire housing continuum. This includes people who are sleeping outside or in shelters as well as those who are renting or who own their home. It is important that people have opportunities to move along the housing continuum from renting to owning their own homes if that is what they choose.

It will be years before we see all of the impacts from the recent zoning changes. The City will monitor any challenges that arise and consider them against the benefits of greater density. If changes are needed regarding parking or other matters, the City will consider what steps could be taken.

The City continues to implement improvements to public transit and support other forms of transportation, such as walking and biking, to alleviate parking pressures and enable people to travel in diverse ways.

The Housing Strategy will support all types of housing, including rental units. Rent statistics show that increasing the supply of rental housing helps stabilize rents but does not result in lower rents in the short term. Rents can decline over time if the housing supply remains high, but it can take many years before there is a noticeable impact.

The Housing Strategy will support all types of housing. Increasing the housing supply can slow price increases over time, but generally, prices continue to rise at a slow and steady rate even when there is ample supply. Prices and property values can drop when a market is overheated, but that is not expected in Regina because price growth has remained modest compared to larger cities.