Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce Cautions Against Rent Control

The Saskatoon Chamber has written to provincial policymakers urging them to consider the unintended consequences of rent control policy that consistently fails to improve affordability and harms new renters and new investment alike. Housing affordability is a pressing issue for many, and we share the goal of ensuring that safe, quality rental housing is accessible and attainable. However, we strongly caution against rent control as the means to that end. The evidence is clear and consistent: rent control, while well-intentioned, produces outcomes that are fundamentally at odds with long-term affordability and housing supply.
Read our letter here.

You can read he letter from the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce below:

Proposed Rent Control Policy – Concerns and Constructive Alternatives

Opposition Leader Beck & MLA ChiefCalf, On behalf of our 1,500 member businesses and property owners, I am writing to express our serious concerns regarding the growing discussion around rent control in Saskatchewan. We recognize that housing affordability is a pressing issue for many residents, and we share the goal of ensuring that safe, quality rental housing is accessible and attainable. However, we strongly caution against rent control as the means to that end. The evidence is clear and consistent: rent control, while well-intentioned, produces outcomes that are fundamentally at odds with long-term affordability and housing supply.

Concerns and Unintended Consequences

Development margins for rental housing are already thin. When revenue is capped or made uncertain, fewer projects will meet investment thresholds—particularly at a time when construction costs, property taxes, insurance, and utilities continue to rise. Many multi-family developments today are viable only because of federal programs such as CMHC-backed financing. There is a fundamental contradiction encouraging supply through federal incentives while simultaneously discouraging it through provincial policy.

Specifically, our members are concerned that rent control will:

• Reduce housing supply by discouraging new development and driving capital to other jurisdictions with more predictable regulatory environments.
• Degrade housing quality over me, as constrained revenue forces landlords to defer maintenance, reduce services, and delay reinvestment in aging building stock.
• Encourage market exit and condominium conversions, further shrinking the available rental pool.
• Reverse a generation of progress in Saskatchewan’s rental market, which has evolved over 25 years from a sector serving primarily students and transitional renters into a legitimate, long-term housing choice supported by higher-quality, professionally managed product.
• Introduce policy risk that, even before implementation, can shift investment decisions—capital in real estate is highly sensitive to regulatory uncertainty.

We urge you to consider the well-documented experience across other provinces and countries: rent control consistently fails to improve long-term affordability and routinely produces a two-tiered market that disadvantages new renters and new investment alike.

Targeted, Supply-Focused Solutions

The most durable solution to housing affordability is increased supply. The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce is committed to working collaboratively with policy-makers to identify and implement policy tools that lower the cost of building and operating rental housing. We respectfully propose the following alternatives:

• Remove PST on new residential construction costs. Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces that applies PST to construction inputs. Eliminating or phasing out this tax would directly reduce development costs and improve project feasibility for new rental supply.
• Introduce property tax relief, incentives, and abatements for purpose-built rental housing. In partnership with municipalities, targeted property tax relief for new and existing rental stock would help offset rising operating costs and support reinvestment.
• Cap assessment spikes on existing rental properties. Saskatoon’s property reassessment swings are disproportionately large compared to other markets, creating sudden cost shocks for rental operators that have real consequences for rents and investment decisions.

The Chamber is open to engaging with your Caucus on these and other evidence-based solutions. We believe that with the right policy framework, Saskatchewan can be a national leader in rental housing supply, quality, and genuine long-term affordability—without the damaging side effects of rent control.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jason Aebig, CEO

cc. Hon. Terry Jenson, Minister of Social Services, Government of Saskatchewan, Her Worship Mayor Cynthia Block, City of Saskatoon, Landon Field, CEO, Rental Housing Saskatchewan