The Town writes the cheque once the occupancy permit is obtained
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A rural Sask. town is offering a cash incentive to community newcomers.
The RM of Moosomin wants to double its population (2,657 as of the 2021 Census) and is ready to help achieve that goal.
Moosomin is offering $30,000 to those building housing units in the eastern Saskatchewan town.
“A cheque will be cut from the Town directly to the builder, so hopefully that will attract some developers or people just building their own home,” Councillor Murray Gray told CTV News.
Developers can receive $30,000 for the first unit of a new building and $8,000 for each unit after that.
The incentive applies to single-family homes, ready-to-move homes, new modular homes, new mobile homes, basement suites, garage suites, apartments, condos, townhomes and backyard suites.
There are no limitations on the number of units an individual can build.
Moosomin has close to $1 million for this initiative.
The money belongs to the Town but is provided through the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund.
The Town will only contribute the money once the occupancy permits have been obtained.
“A group of people we have in town, which is the Community (Builders) Alliance, made up of local businesses … as soon as the house is ready to move into, will give you your $30,000,” Mayor Larry Tomlinson told Global News.
Housing unit construction dating back to August 2023 can qualify for the payment.
The town is facing a housing shortage, Tomlinson said.
The ag and manufacturing industries attract people to Moosomin, but they need places to live, he said.
“A lot of people make Moosomin their home, and that being the case we’re short of housing and nowhere to put people,” he told Newstalk 1010. “There’s jobs to be had here too.”
The town hasn’t seen a residential subdivision built in the last 12 years, the Community Builders Alliance says.
According to houseful.ca, a real estate subsidiary of Royal Bank, the average price of a home in Moosomin is $252,000, down from $259,450 one month ago.
Anyone interested can learn more about the Moosomin initiative online.
A Saskatchewan community must have a sustained population of 5,000 people before it can be considered a city.