Res­id­en­tial con­struc­tion costs soar in rural Sask.

Published in the Regina Leader-Post | May 23, 2026

Fortier Mattila Appraisals was recently featured in the Regina Leader-Post discussing building costs. Read the full article below, or view the original publication on PressReader
https://www.pressreader.com/foryou?popupArticleId=281496462935681

Res­id­en­tial con­struc­tion costs have surged across the Prair­ies since early 2020, cre­at­ing new chal­lenges for farm fam­il­ies plan­ning new builds.

Stat­ist­ics Canada tracks build­ing costs using the build­ing con­struc­tion price index (BCPI), which meas­ures the total cost to con­struct res­id­en­tial build­ings, includ­ing mater­i­als, labour, equip­ment, over­head, and con­tractor profit.

While it does not include land, design fees or muni­cipal levies, the BCPI provides a reli­able bench­mark for under­stand­ing rising con­struc­tion expenses. Accord­ing to BCPI data, res­id­en­tial build­ing costs from quarter 1 2020 to quarter 4 2025 have increased sig­ni­fic­antly: 58.4 per cent (Saskat­chewan), 48.6 per cent (Man­itoba), 76.6 per cent (Alberta).

Fortier Mat­tila Apprais­als has tracked res­id­en­tial con­struc­tion costs in rural north­w­est Saskat­chewan since the start of the pan­demic. This cost­ing data is adjus­ted using the BCPI to reflect con­struc­tion costs as of Q4 2025, and the fol­low­ing obser­va­tions were made on a cost per square foot basis for the region:

Mobile/mod­u­lar (crawl space, no gar­age): $189 – $268 (median: $217).

One storey (crawl space, no gar­age): $205 – $382 (median: $300).

One storey (fin­ished base­ment, no gar­age): $340 – $568 (median: $392).

One storey (fin­ished base­ment, double attached gar­age): $387 – $603 (median: $435).

It is import­ant to note these fig­ures are his­tor­ical based on past builds in rural north­w­est Saskat­chewan and are not inten­ded as a fore­cast or guar­an­teed pro­jec­tion for any spe­cific future project. Actual costs vary by region, project, and con­tractor avail­ab­il­ity.

Cal­cu­la­tions are based on above-grade liv­ing area only, which is why prop­er­ties with fin­ished base­ments and attached gar­ages show sig­ni­fic­antly higher appar­ent per square foot costs.

Unlike urban builds, rural con­struc­tion fig­ures must account for site devel­op­ment. This includes essen­tial ver­tical con­struc­tion plus the high cost of well, sep­tic, util­ity con­nec­tions (nat­ural gas, elec­tri­city) and grad­ing.

While Saska­toon and Regina con­tinue to see robust res­id­en­tial activ­ity driven by record pop­u­la­tion growth and rising mar­ket val­ues, the logist­ical and fin­an­cial real­ity for rural Saskat­chewan is markedly dif­fer­ent. In cer­tain rural mar­kets, we are now observing an imme­di­ate equity short­fall. The total project cost (land acquis­i­tion plus con­struc­tion) fre­quently exceeds cur­rent mar­ket val­ues.

This cre­ates sig­ni­fic­ant hurdles for tra­di­tional mort­gage fin­an­cing, as the build effect­ively “costs” more than it is “worth” on Day 1.

Mort­gages are typ­ic­ally based on mar­ket value, so fam­il­ies may need to cover the dif­fer­ence out of pocket. Farm Credit has increas­ingly provided fin­an­cing for these projects, allow­ing some builds to pro­ceed, des­pite cost-to-value gaps.

In regions where local con­tractor avail­ab­il­ity is lim­ited, some fam­il­ies may con­sider altern­at­ive build­ing meth­ods, such as ready-to-move, relo­cat­able or mod­u­lar homes. While not always cheaper, these options can help main­tain con­struc­tion sched­ules.

The rise in con­struc­tion costs and lim­ited new builds is also affect­ing the exist­ing farm home mar­ket. With fewer new homes com­ing onto the mar­ket, sup­ply is con­strained rel­at­ive to demand, which can push up the value of exist­ing improved prop­er­ties.

In some mar­kets buy­ers now view five- to 10-year-old homes as viable altern­at­ives to build­ing new as they are sim­il­arly con­struc­ted, but can often be pur­chased at a lower cost. Sellers of these rel­at­ively newer homes can often still turn a profit, given these homes were built when con­struc­tion costs were lower.

Ren­ov­ated homes have also appre­ci­ated in many mar­kets, as the rising cost of mater­i­als, labour and spe­cial­ized upgrades is increas­ingly reflec­ted in higher prop­erty val­ues

Many fam­il­ies are respond­ing to these con­di­tions by delay­ing new con­struc­tion, scal­ing back designs or post­pon­ing multi-gen­er­a­tional hous­ing plans until con­di­tions improve. Oth­ers are focus­ing on renov­at­ing exist­ing homes to main­tain liv­able hous­ing while avoid­ing higher con­struc­tion costs. However, renov­a­tion costs have increased sub­stan­tially, as well.

A new home is more than a place to live — it reflects the con­fid­ence and invest­ment of fam­il­ies in the future of their land and com­munit­ies.

Rising con­struc­tion costs, fin­an­cing chal­lenges and lim­ited con­tractor avail­ab­il­ity can slow or com­plic­ate these plans. Under­stand­ing these trends helps farm fam­il­ies make informed choices about build­ing, renov­at­ing and man­aging prop­erty in today’s mar­ket.