YORKTON – Yorkton city council has voted to renew its suite of housing incentive programs, but not without key changes aimed at balancing growth with financial risk.
During its Feb. 23 meeting, council approved continuing the Residential Lot Sales Rebate Program, reducing the length of a major tax abatement for new home construction and ramping up promotion of the incentives through a new social media campaign.
The decision follows administration’s request for direction, as two of the four housing policies are set to expire at the end of the year.
Council agreed to continue the Residential Lot Sales Rebate Program in York Landing, increasing the maximum budget to $500,000 to spur additional development.
The program, first adopted in 2024 as a successor to the Show Home Rebate Program, offers a 50 per cent rebate on the purchase price of city-owned residential lots. It is funded through the city’s self-sustaining Land Fund.
To date, two lots have sold in Riverside Terrace, one home is nearly complete and another lot purchased in fall 2025 is expected to see construction begin in spring 2026. Two additional purchases have taken place in York Landing, including a four-plex and a home with a secondary suite.
Council also approved shortening the Residential Construction Incentive Program tax abatement from five years to one year.
The program, introduced in 2022 in response to stagnant one and two-unit housing starts, initially saw little uptake. In 2023, it was expanded to include three and four-unit dwellings, leading to construction of two four-unit rental buildings.
Under the revised approach, new builds consisting of one to four units will now receive a 100 per cent tax abatement for one year instead of five years.
Council also renewed the Rental Housing Incentive Program, first adopted in 2011. The program provides a five-year, 100 per cent tax abatement for projects creating five or more rental units.
Since its inception, the incentive has been used three times, resulting in 40 new rental units.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s annual rental market survey, Yorkton’s rental vacancy rate sits at 2.3 per cent, below the three per cent rate the agency considers a healthy market.
The data reflects buildings with three or more units and does not capture the secondary rental market, where anecdotal reports suggest even tighter availability.
Administration noted that rental construction in smaller centres such as Yorkton often faces financing challenges. Larger financial institutions may view such markets as higher risk, leading to less competitive lending rates than in major cities.
Combined with high construction costs, tax abatements are seen as a necessary tool to support new rental development.
