Regina mayor Michael Fougere convenes housing summit

Regina mayor Michael Fougere announced Thursday that a housing summit will take place in May.

"I want to be clear," Fougere said in making the announcement during a state of the city speech, "this council will act."

Fougere said work needs to be done on the city's low vacancy rate, which has put a squeeze on many people looking for a place.

"I want to send a signal today that this council remains absolutely driven to work on housing as a priority," Fougere said. "I think the longer we wait, the more people say 'What are you doing?' And that's a legitimate question. So we want to make sure people understand we're acting as fast as we can."

Danielle Goulden, from Carmichael Outreach, said itis time for action on housing in Regina.

"People are paying 60, 70, 80 per cent of their total monthly incomes on housing," Goulden noted.

She said some of the centre's clients have spent several months looking for a place to live in Regina.