The City of Medicine Hat set a goal in 2019 of building 60 affordable housing units each year, but numbers show that target is not being met.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat’s most recent housing needs assessment, the city is making slower than anticipated progress toward addressing the demand for affordable housing.
As of the most recent census in 2021, Medicine Hat was home to 7,930 renter households. Of those households, 21 per cent were in core housing need.
According to the most recent data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Medicine Hat had 722 social and affordable housing units in 2024.
The data from the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society lists a higher total of 968 affordable housing units. It is not clear when that data was collected.
The Medicine Hat Housing Strategy, developed under the leadership of MHCHS, set a target of adding 60 new units per year of social and affordable housing in 2019.
In a statement to the News, a city spokesperson said that in the last five years, the city has added 13 affordable housing units as defined by the Province of Alberta’s definition, which was updated by ministerial order in 2024.
According to the new definition, affordable housing accommodations must be subject to an agreement between the owner and one of the three levels of government, be operated by a not-for-profit organization and have rental rates which are below market rates.
The 13 added units, which include one bachelor and 12 one-bedroom units, were not new builds but were transitioned from existing stock in the community. It is unclear if any new affordable housing units have been built in that time.
The spokesperson said the city is working to contribute to the community target in several ways, including through an approved land donation at 1482 Fifth Avenue SE.
“This development is being constructed by MHCHS. The first phase will see 20 units built, with further phases to follow,” said the spokesperson.
Between 2019 and 2024, the average rent increased by $322 for an average yearly increase of 6.56 per cent. Between 2021 and 2024, rents increased by 27 per cent.
Average rent in 2024 was $1,183 per month, with bachelor suites going for an average of $1,062 and three-bedroom units renting at $1,432.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports a 9.5 per cent increase in the national average rental rate for an apartment in 2024.
Vacancy rates have declined in the city during same stretch of time, with an 81 per cent drop in vacancy rates over the last five years. The most recent vacancy rate, dating from 2023, showed only 1.1 per cent of rental units in the city were unoccupied.
The low vacancy rate is attributable to several factors, including population growth between 2023 and 2024 and a decline in the number of dwellings between 2022 and 2023.
Between 2022 and 2023, the city also saw a 56 per cent decline in housing starts, with 97 fewer starts in 2023.
