Angela Amato
Regina Leader-Post
In an attempt to achieve city status, the Town of Moosomin is offering $30,000 to those building homes in a community desperate for housing.
The population of the southeastern Saskatchewan community was tallied at 2,657, according to 2021 census data. But, with commercial construction on the rise and jobs in potash and agriculture thriving, Moosomin’s economic development officer says there aren’t enough homes to accommodate the growth.
“We need to do this because Moosomin is growing like crazy right now,” said Casey McCormac in an interview Tuesday. “There’s nowhere for people to live. All of our rentals are completely full and houses are pretty scarce as well.”
Many people are forced to live in surrounding towns because of the short supply, she added, which made it the perfect time for Moosomin to apply for money through the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) and offer an incentive for developers.
Through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the HAF aims to encourage local initiatives and boost the housing supply in communities across the country that are facing shortages.
Since the HAF grant was approved for Moosomin in February, two 12-unit apartments have been partially completed and builders recently applied for a discretionary-use permit to construct a six-plex. The incentive has been approved for all permits submitted after Aug. 21, 2023 and McCormac said the town has had other developers reach out, but conversations are ongoing.
In order to retain the grant money, the town is required to build 43 units by 2027, 36 of which need to be multi-units and four that must be multi-units with no shared spaces.
“I’m hoping that once we hit those 43 units, and I believe we’ll hit them way sooner than 2027, we can use the data to prove to town council that this is something we should put into place with or without a grant,” said McCormac, who added that people are attracted to the community because of its “small-town feel, big-city appeal.”
“Moosomin has the best small-town hospitality you can get, but with the amenities of a big city,” he said. “We have amazing recreational facilities for a town our size. We have 14 doctors in a town of less than 3,000 people, which is crazy.”
Work is currently underway on a new, larger Co-op grocery store as well as Moosomin’s airport expansion project, which will allow jets to fly into the community. The town was also just approved for 90 new daycare spots.
“Our long-term goal is to become a city. We think that we can get interest from those bigger companies once we become a city,” said McCormac, adding they’d like to attract another grocery store like a Save-On-Foods or Sobeys.
“But they’re not interested in looking at movement until we have that bigger population.”
A town is considered a city once the population reaches 5,000.
McCormac has yet to hear concerns about growth from current residents, but says she’s confident in maintaining that “small-town feel they’re looking for.”
