BIG CORPORATE ALBERTA LANDLORD TOUTS PROFITS WHILE RENTERS IN PROVINCE SUFFER AMID FASTEST RISING RATES IN CANADA

SASKATCHEWAN NDP CALLS FOR RENT CONTROL AFTER BOARDWALK BUYS UP MORE UNITS

SASKATOON - A big corporate landlord is buying up more units in Saskatchewan – a market it calls the most lucrative in Canada due in large part to a lack of rent control.

Alberta-based Boardwalk is acquiring 235 more rental properties in Regina and Saskatoon as new data shows rental prices increasing faster in Saskatchewan than anywhere else in Canada.

Boardwalk CEO Sam Kolias told AllSaskatchewan (July 31) the landlord’s operations in the province generated $12 million in profits during the second quarter, up from $10.5 million a year earlier. Saskatchewan was Boardwalk’s “best-performing” market in Canada and saw a 13% increase in net operating income year-over-year.

“So many people in our province are drowning in debt and rents in Saskatchewan are rising faster than anywhere else in Canada,” said April ChiefCalf, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Housing.

“We can’t allow a big Alberta-based corporate landlord to squeeze every penny out of our seniors and young people, and then brag about it.

“It’s just not right. We need rent control — like we see in so many other provinces — to keep big corporate landlords from jacking up rents fifteen, twenty, even thirty per cent in a single year.

“This is about building a future for the people of Saskatchewan where every person has an affordable and safe place to call home.”

Sask. Party Social Services Minister Terry Jenson has defended his government's lack of action on housing affordability, saying that rent control is something “landlords aren’t into.”

British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Ontario have all implemented some form of rent control.

The Saskatchewan NDP has heard from dozens of people in recent weeks concerned about Saskatchewan’s lack of rent control. The people of Saskatchewan can have their voice heard by visiting RentControlNow.ca.

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