REGINA — The City of Regina is making progress on developing underused land.
On Wednesday, the executive committee was presented with a five-year progress update on the Underutilized Land Improvement Strategy (ULIS).
The strategy was first approved by council in 2019, with a roughly 10-year implementation timeline for helping the city achieve long-term financial viability, supporting diverse housing options, and fostering economic prosperity.
The city has outlined short, medium and long-term objectives related to the strategy. So far, 12 per cent have been completed, with nearly 80 per cent still ongoing.
As for progress, the city saw 162 underutilized sites redeveloped between 2020 and 2025. Roughly 66 per cent of those sites were residential, 32 per cent were commercial, and two per cent were institutional.
Those sites combined are valued at approximately $171 million, bringing in roughly $143 million in taxes.
From recent examples, city administration noted a single-detached dwelling brings in roughly $3,400 more in property taxes compared to a vacant lot. This can ultimately help the city see a more balanced property value throughout Regina with more redevelopment downtown.
Deborah Bryden, deputy city manager of city planning and community development, highlighted some actions the city has undertaken over the past few years to help underutilized site development.
“We waived discretionary use of zoning-bylaw amendment and OCP (official community plan) amendment application fees for intensification projects in the city centre. We offer site servicing capacity checks for [roughly] $1,100 or substantially less than what you’d have to pay an engineer to support applicants considering an infill development.”
Bryden also noted the city has sped up non-controversial discretionary use applications from 14 weeks to seven weeks.
“A lot of work has been done in the [community development] division to advertise that the city is open for business, greenfill and intensification,” noted Bryden.
As of September, the city has identified 667 underutilized vacant lots and 188 underutilized surface parking lots.
These are found primarily in the city centre, North Central and Heritage.
To continue improving the strategy, the city plans to launch a public map to showcase all underutilized properties in central Regina.
Council will receive an updated report on the strategy in 2031 once it’s been fully implemented.
