Regina Minute: Issue 87

Regina Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Regina politics

📅 This Week In Regina: 📅

• On Wednesday, the Executive Committee will meet at 9:00 am. The Committee will receive the Events, Conventions & Tradeshows (ECT) Fund Annual Report. The ECT Fund, with an annual operating budget of $375,000, supports the attraction and retention of major events to stimulate tourism, local business growth, and international trade, while also promoting the City’s brand. In 2025, $180,000 was spent on key events, including The Grind, Skills Canada Competition, Canoe-Kayak Sprint Nationals, Spo Ho X, and Canadian Western Agribition. The report also details ECT Reserve commitments, including funding for the 2025 Vanier Cup, the 2028 Can-Am Police Fire Games, and a pending 2030 multi-sport event, resulting in a projected 2025 reserve ending balance of $130,375.
  
  
• The Committee will also discuss two leases. A Burger King Lease at 1806 Albert Street would establish a one-year direct lease with Sadiq Holdings Inc., covering the restaurant and adjacent vacant space, at $86,000 plus GST annually, with the tenant responsible for maintenance, operations, and property taxes. This short-term lease allows Burger King to continue operating while the City markets the property for redevelopment to support downtown housing and corridor beautification. A Future Fence Ltd. Lease at 3426 Saskatchewan Drive proposes a four-year lease with one renewal option, including a cancellation clause to accommodate future corridor construction, at $21,665 plus GST annually with a 3% yearly increase and additional occupancy costs. Both leases generate revenue for the Land Development Reserve, are considered at or near market value, and require City Council approval because they are offered without a public tender.
  
  
• Administration says that a 15.69% property tax increase may be needed in 2026 to maintain current service levels, more than double last year’s 7.33% hike, which was already the largest in over a decade. Acting City Manager Jim Nicol emphasized that the final mill rate will be set by Council during December budget deliberations. The projected rise is driven by inflation, aging infrastructure, limited reserves, Council-approved salary increases, higher police and fire service costs, and new services like the indoor aquatics centre and development initiatives. Utilities are also forecast to increase by 7.82%. Administration noted that maintaining current services without a rate increase would require service reductions. The budget shortfall is estimated at $51.78 million.
  
  
• Council has approved a zoning change that will allow manufactured homes on any residential lot citywide, a shift prompted by the eviction of more than 100 families from the Glen Elm Mobile Home Community earlier this year. Residents had struggled to relocate within Regina due to zoning rules, forcing some to move to other communities. Council passed the change 8-3, with City Administration concluding there was no strong rationale to limit mobile homes to just two neighbourhoods. Supporters, including Ward 6 Councillor Victoria Flores, said the policy update addresses a significant gap in affordable housing and gives displaced residents more options. Manufactured homes must meet the same building and safety standards as traditional houses.
  
  
• Former leaders of the Regina Street Team are urging Council to keep the outreach program independent from City Hall, warning that bringing it under municipal oversight could undermine trust with people living in encampments. Their comments came as Council approved a new encampment-response protocol that shifts the City’s approach toward connecting unhoused residents with services rather than immediately dismantling camps. The Street Team, currently overseen by the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District, is seeking a new organizational home, and options include moving it to a non-profit such as Mobile Crisis Services. City Administration is still reviewing whether the program should remain at arm's-length or be brought into municipal operations. To implement the new protocol, Council will consider roughly $2.4 million in 2026 funding, partly reallocated from a discontinued City initiative. A separate provincial contribution of $300,000 will support a new warming centre as part of Saskatchewan’s ongoing strategy to address homelessness.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

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