Prince Albert council will be asked Monday to adopt a new housing strategy that lays out how the city could respond to a long-term housing shortfall, while also considering a labour-opposed motion tied to assessment services and a final decision on 6th Avenue East viaduct repairs.
The regular council meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. July 20 in council chambers at City Hall.
The largest item is the Prince Albert Housing Strategy and Action Plan, completed by Wallace Insights. The report follows the Housing Needs Assessment presented to council in March 2025 and says the city has two major housing pressures: a current affordability gap of 1,470 homes and the need for 1,097 more units by 2036 to handle expected growth.
The strategy says Prince Albert would need to increase housing production from an average of 87 units a year to at least 160. The yearly target includes 60 affordable units, 55 entry-level market units, 25 seniors units and 20 transitional or supportive units.
The plan does not propose that the City become a housing provider. Instead, it says the City should act as an enabler through land, incentives, regulation, coordination and data. It recommends a housing working group, a housing facilitator position, revisions to the Housing Reserve Policy, a self-financing new construction grant and further work with First Nations and Metis governments.
The plan also connects housing to economic growth. Wallace Insights says unmet housing need could cost the city households and tax base by 2036, while local employers are already facing recruitment pressure ahead of the 2028 hospital opening.
The plan follows a June 2 community meeting at the Margo Fournier Arts Centre, where builders, lenders, service agencies, government representatives, realtors, non-profits, local developers and residents were asked to look at barriers to housing construction and possible action items.
The Daily Herald reported at the time that the meeting was intended to move the Housing Strategy and Action Plan toward action. Michael Nelson, then acting director of community development, said the goal was to gather feedback and action items that could help address housing issues in the city.
“Our top priority from this meeting is to help develop a plan that is something that we can easily action, and it helps to get houses built and more homes for people and different options,” Nelson said at the time.
Brenda Wallace, principal of Wallace Insights, told participants at the June meeting that Prince Albert’s housing challenge would require new approaches, including changes to regulations and policy, incentives, partnerships, research, monitoring and public education.
Wallace is also scheduled to present the Housing Strategy and Action Plan to council on Monday.
Council will also consider a motion from Coun. Stephen Ring asking administration to report on the current cost of the City’s Assessment Department, compare that with the cost of having the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) generate the City’s assessment tax roll, and review possible hybrid options.
The motion has drawn opposition letters from labour organizations. The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, Prince Albert and District Labour Council, CUPE Local 882, and CUPE Saskatchewan are listed in the agenda package as correspondents.
The Prince Albert and District Labour Council said the motion could lead to privatization of the City’s Assessment Division, while CUPE Saskatchewan warned that cost review reports can be an early step toward contracting out or privatizing public services.
The motion itself asks for a cost comparison. The letters frame it as a possible local jobs and privatization issue.
Council is also expected to deal with the 6th Avenue East viaduct rehabilitation project, which returns after a lengthy Executive Committee discussion earlier this month. Administration has recommended completing design work in 2026 and moving construction to 2027. Councillors previously questioned the timing, cost, and shift from last year’s urgent budget discussion to a 2027 construction schedule.
Other reports on Monday’s agenda include City Hall mural removal, a revised downtown business incentive, commercial construction incentive applications for a restaurant at 4333 7th Avenue East and a hotel at 4477 7th Avenue East, and a development permit for the Prince Albert Aboriginal Head Start Program’s proposed preschool at 801 25th Street West.
Council will also consider equipment purchases, sanitation environmental services, Lake Country Co-op Leisure Centre lease agreements, toboggan hill work at Little Red River Park, a $2 paper billing fee review, account write-offs, base tax abatements, human resources consulting, an illicit drug cost recovery motion and a wastewater partnership motion.
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
