The City of Prince Albert is hoping to get more commercial construction with new tax incentive. (Susan McNeil/paNOW Staff)

By Susan McNeil

Construction incentive

Prince Albert rolls out commercial, multi-unit residential tax incentive

Jul 23, 2025 | 1:49 PM

In a bid to boost commercial and residential growth in the City of Prince Albert, city council voted in favour of a tax abatement strategy for new builds at their Monday council meeting.

The tax break will be applied to any new residential building with five or more units and to any new commercial construction within the city, regardless of size or value of the development.

“What we’re trying to do with this incentive program is find ways to attract those types of housing units to our city,” City Planning and Development manager Craig Guidinger said to council when he first previewed the program on July 7. “Of course, filling a couple different needs – adding to our taxation base and also adding those affordable housing units which we are in dire need of in our community.”

The sliding scale will see 70 per cent municipal tax abatement in the first year after construction is completed. Fifty per cent the second year, 30 per cent the third year, 15 per cent in the fourth year and full taxation applied in the fifth year.

Council formally adopted the measures at its regular meeting on Monday.

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The housing report from March 2025, showed Prince Albert needs over 1,000 new housing units added to its inventory in the next decade. Along with a lack of affordable housing, is a lack of market housing priced between $360,000 and $440,000.

READ MORE: Prince Albert needs over 1,000 housing units in the next 10 years

The lack of market housing contributes to increased rents, which, at the time numbers were gathered for the report, were around $1,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.

“We do have a significant gap in our housing inventory, specifically for multi-unit developments, market housing and below market housing,” Guidinger said.

Statistics from the provincial consumer price index in June 2025 show a housing cost increase across Saskatchewan of 3.3 per cent and is attributed to rising rent.

This year also saw Prince Albert property owners face a significant increase in property taxes.

Last year, Prince Albert Housing said they have close to a zero per cent vacancy rate and a waiting list of about 60 people.

Mayor Bill Powalinsky said council needed to do something to increase revenue.

“We need to increase the taxation footprint, so to speak, of our community. We can reduce costs, cut costs to a certain point but if we go past that point, we become unserviceable,” he said.

Powalinsky pointed to his previous experience as part of the Chamber of Commerce where the message they heard was that the city needed to become more business-friendly.

“I did hear quite often that PA needs to become more business-friendly. They need to look at incentives, need to look at reducing red tape, need to be a very welcoming city to business and industry,” he said.

Some construction has been happening. The third of a three-building apartment complex in the West Hill is almost complete and the YWCA just announced the construction of a 20-unit transitional housing building for the clients it serves.

The Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN-S) has been working with city staff on a plan to build several blocks of row housing near its office complex that is currently under construction, also in the West Hill.

Commercial properties are being developed in The Yard District as well.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social.