Concerns About Affordable Housing in Regina

• 217,490 persons or 19 per cent of the 1,144,684 persons in Saskatchewan were in poverty in 2019. Poverty is associated with substandard housing, hunger, homelessness, inadequate childcare, unsafe neighbourhoods – the impact of poverty on young children is significant and long lasting. https://campaign2000.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Saskatchewan-Report-Card-English-CPR-2021.pdf

• Housing poverty occurs when households spend more than 30% of income on shelter costs. From Statistics Canada, Census of Population: identifies households in Regina spending more than 30% on rental was 12% in 2016 and 19% in 2022.
1. A Leader Post article published July 18, 2023 identified the average cost of a one-bedroom rental in Regina as $1096. On October 1, 2023 the government of Saskatchewan raised the minimum wage to $14.00 per hour.
2. On this minimum wage it would take almost 20 hours (before tax) salary per week to make rent payment.
3. SIS benefits for housing increased to $630 per month for Regina & Saskatoon in 2023 budget; $570 for the rest of the province & does not cover utilities.
4. For many RAPM clients it is more and more difficult to find places to live with the funds provided through the SIS program. These facts illustrate why housing poverty occurs in one in five households in the community and why RAPM advocates for $300 per month increase as first step in raising support above the poverty line.

   https://livingskiesrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/RAPM-SISCutsConcerns-ActionCall-Nov2021.pdf

• Households that spend more than 6% of their after-tax household income on home energy services (or roughly twice the national median) have high home energy cost burdens, and are said to be experiencing energy poverty. In 2019 energy poverty in Saskatchewan was 21%. Many RAPM clients are forced to make decisions between eating or paying for utilities. Specific ask: Provide SIS recipients with the option of having their rent paid directly to their landlord and their utility bills paid directly to the utility providers.                    https://energypoverty.ca/backgrounder.pdf.

• The 2021 Regina PiT (Point in Time) Count estimated 488 individuals were homeless. Breakdown: 86 or 18% were in transitional shelter/housing, 17% were at someone else’s place, 20 or 4% were in public places (detox or jail) – which translates to 47% or half being provisionally accommodated. There were 99 or 20% were housed in emergency shelters. The greatest change seen for 2021 count compared to the 2018 was the increase in unsheltered people, rising from 6 in 2018 to 68 in 2021, accounting in 2021 for 17% of total numerations compared to the 2% observed in 2018. Present approaches are failing, as evidenced by the increasing number of people experiencing homelessness.  https://flowcommunityprojects.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Regina-Point-in-Time-Count-2021-Electronic-Copy.pdf.

• Once a person becomes even temporarily homeless, reintegration into the community is difficult and may become compounded by secondary factors (e.g. loss of tools, cars or other prerequisites to finding employment; family breakup; mental health challenges; or problematic substance abuse).

• A 2016 a BC study gave $7,500 to people experiencing homelessness.                  What happened?                                                                                                                      The study: They recruited clients age of 19-65 and who did not have severe levels of substance or alcohol use and mental health problems, many in provisional shelter program.
  The results: Around 50 per cent of participants in the study moved into housing just one month after the cash transfer. The researcher notes: “This goes to show how prepared they were to get back to stability. All they needed was the cash support to do so.”                                                                             Conclusion: this Canadian peer reviewed study published in a scientific journal adds more evidence to a growing body of cash transfer studies around the world that demonstrate the need to raise the income floor of marginalized people. https://psych.ubc.ca/news/cash-transfers-to-people-experiencing-homelessness/.