Canada

Hey, glad you had a great time! I've been meaning to visit Winnipeg but times have been busier than they ever have been 😵‍💫

Yeah rental market in SK is kinda bizarre because there's a weirdly high degree of landlord-ism here. Like, I moved here from Ontario a few years ago and I don't think I've met as many people who are landlords "on the side" or multi-generational landlords as I have since living in Regina. I'm not sure why or if that causes changes in the rental market, but I imagine that "oh I hear the real estate market is a seller's paradise right now. Guess that means I can raise rent!" is no small part. (I was house hunting recently and the number of houses that were clearly the slumlord special that were asking for 400k when the median at the time was 300k? Actually upsetting.) Seeing rents that are comparable to a mortgage payment before utilities didn't use to be normal here but we're starting to see it.

Oh jeez, if I had a magic wand? I mean my go-tos are always gonna be "rent control for everyone, huge tax on second properties unless you adopt a rent-to-own scheme, leins on vacant and derelict properties, increase supply tomorrow even if they all look like commie blocks". But I also actively decided to move from Ontario to Regina, so take my decision making with a grain of salt :p

Even if I dont get the chance to go full Kruschev on housing, then I would at least make services equal to the price you pay to live where you do. That doesn't solve housing since that would be a justification for expensive housing (or poor services), but it would at least make cost-to-benefit somewhere close to equitable.