Following up on a story MHProNews published Dec. 27, 2013 regarding the building of a modular housing development in Estevan, Saskatchewan, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced that the Energy City’s vacancy rate had dropped to 0.0 percent in the spring of 2013, according to estevanmercury.ca, but a report in the fall indicates it has risen to 1.8 percent. Despite the modular development and other housing projects underway, the current shortage is putting a squeeze on affordable housing. Another project would provide housing for students at the Saskatchewan Energy Training Institute as well as for low-income earners in the city. Another CMHC report on the vacancy rate will be out the spring of 2014. Estevan is just north of the Bakken oil field in western North Dakota that is undergoing extensive population growth accompanied by a severe housing shortage.

(Photo credit: winnipegfreepress–Lake St. Martin modular, Canada)