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The number of boarded-up and vacant homes in Saskatoon has increased significantly since the summer, according to statistics from the city’s fire department.
As of last week, there were 137 boarded-up and vacant homes in the city, according to figures the Saskatoon Fire Department provided to CBC.
These abandoned homes are spread out across the city, including 36 in Pleasant Hill, 25 in Riversdale and 11 in Caswell, assistant fire Chief Yvonne Raymer told CBC’s Saskatoon Morning.
In July, there were 37 derelict properties in all of Saskatoon, according to city records.
That increase is concerning, Raymer said.
“We’ve seen a record amount of closures this year,” she said. “We don’t have enough inspectors to actually stay on top of [all] the files in a timely fashion, but they are a priority.”
Raymer said the fire department is directing inspectors to figure out what is needed to restore boarded-up homes and get them in a condition that they can be sold, rented or turned into affordable housing.
“We do address them as soon as possible, as soon as practical, knowing we have an unhoused situation.”
LISTEN | Saskatoon Fire Department keen to tackle problem of derelict and vacant houses:
Saskatoon Morning13:51The fire department is keen to tackle the problem of vacant and derelict housing in the city
There’s an affordable housing shortage right across the country. At the same time, there are houses all over Saskatoon that are boarded up and vacant, or in very poor condition because of misuse or neglect. At last count, there were 137 derelict houses here. Candice Lipski took a drive near Idylwyld Drive with assistant fire Chief Yvonne Raymer to learn more about this issue.
Len Usiskin spent decades working on housing in Saskatoon’s inner city as the executive director of the not-for-profit Quint Development Corporation. He’s worried that the number of boarded-up vacant homes in the city will keep rising because there are hundreds of homes in need of major repairs.
It’s extremely difficult to find affordable housing in Saskatoon, said Usiskin, who recently retired from Quint Development.
“We need to fix those houses and we need to and we need to build new affordable housing that’s deeply affordable for people,” he said.
While rent may be lower in Saskatoon than in many other Canadian cities, the fact Saskatchewan has the lowest minimum wage among the 10 provinces makes it hard for people to find housing, he said.
“It’s just truly unaffordable for people on fixed and lower incomes.”
Dangers of boarded-up homes
Raymer said the fire department receives reports of people living unlawfully in abandoned and boarded-up homes, often because they have nowhere else to go.
“When they’re actually vacant and they’re boarded up, there should be nobody living in them because they’re obviously shut down, probably don’t have utilities and are probably not safe,” Raymer said.
“They wouldn’t have any of the creature comforts or the safety measures that you and I would have, such as smoke alarms, carbon dioxide alarms.”
Once the fire department hears about, or finds, people living in a boarded-up home, it sends a fire investigator to help relocate them to a shelter or a form of rehousing, said Raymer.
Whether or not an abandoned home is restored is generally under the control of the property owner, she said.
“What we’re wanting to do is [to] try to encourage them to restore it back to building stock,” Raymer said.
When the fire department finds a derelict property, it provides the owner with education on maintenance or a warning.
If the home isn’t fixed, non-compliance charges can be laid against property owners who let their homes sit derelict, said Raymer.
The fire department is looking at enhancements to the current bylaw to further encourage property owners to make needed restorations, she said. If that isn’t possible, she said a new bylaw is needed to reduce the number of boarded-up and vacant homes in the city.
She’d like to see a bylaw that is “very robust to the point where … Saskatoon has a reputation that you don’t want to leave an abandoned building in that city, because they will be on top of it right away.”
To qualify for demolition, a building needs to have a substantial amount of damage, according to Raymer.
Usiskin said more support is needed for people looking for affordable housing in Saskatoon.
“The economics are difficult for landlords to invest in the necessary repairs and still make it affordable and available to people on low incomes,” he said.
“It’s a difficult, complex, long-term situation and I think part of it is just that we need stronger public policies around investing in affordable housing.”
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