Executive receives update on abandoned property demolitions, reiterates support for infill development

Regina’s executive committee is addressing derelict properties and encouraging infill development, with taxes not on the agenda. Donovan Maess reports.

The City of Regina continues to search for new ways to address its problem of derelict and abandoned properties, particularly in the city’s core neighbourhoods.

As part of Wednesday’s executive committee meeting, councillors were provided an update on administration’s progress in demolishing such properties.

“Administration has changed its enforcement approach,” city manager of operations Kurtis Doney told committee. “We now prioritize properties in the worst conditions considered derelict. This shift has led to more demolitions of unsafe, derelict buildings.”

According to a report, 45 demolitions have occurred already in 2025, surpassing last year’s total of 44.

As part of the shift to proactively focus on nuisance and derelict properties in January 2024, administration conducted an initial city-wide scan to map derelict property locations throughout the city; refocused officer activities with a proactive enforcement approach in high concentration neighbourhoods; increased demolition enforcement on derelict/nuisance properties; along with increased coordination with internal real estate and assessment and property revenue services teams.

“The objective of this report was really to figure out how we take derelict properties and either have them improved by the owner or that they are demolished,” Doney added.

Former councillor’s motion

Last year, former Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens presented a motion to further penalties for property owners of nuisance or derelict buildings.

It asked administration to create a new property tax subclass in order to provide greater incentive for the owners to do something with their plot – an idea first modeled in Edmonton, Alta.

“[Current policies] actually diminish the capacity to advance other plans,” Stevens told council on Jan. 29, 2025 as a delegate. “What we found is that this rate of return is better than something functional.”

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Administration says it would need more resources in order to follow a similar model to what Edmonton is doing in that city.

“We don’t recommend adding a resource lightly,” city CFO Daren Anderson said. “We do not have the capacity at this time in our assessment group.”

Councillors tabled the plan to February 2026. Administration’s enforcement, however, will not stop.

Infill development

The next issue the city is working to address is filling those empty spaces with new developments.

“There’s a lot of variables when it comes to nuisance properties, in particular the broader neighborhoods that they are in,” director of community standards, Faisal Kalim said Wednesday. “This is one component that would fit into a broader strategy, in terms of a neighborhood.”

Administration told committee 47 lots which have sat vacant for more than two years have seen new developments.

Six of those developments are now complete, 37 are ongoing and five have not yet started.

“Historically, there had been lots of criticisms and concerns about how things were so slow and so bureaucratic at the city,” acting city manager Jim Nicol said. “We want to be open for development and for business .... we have moved the needle significantly over the last three years in this regard.”

Still, more work needs to be done.

“We’re making good progress,” Mayor Chad Bachynski told reporters after the meeting. “We’re seeing more infill developments coming forward in the community.”

“And then today, moving forward with the strategy that helps to remove barriers where we can be is incredibly important to make sure we’re utilizing our existing infrastructure and space most effectively,” he added.

Bachynski feel the two issues are intertwined as the city works to ignite intensification in the core and downtown.

“If you’re addressing both of them in tandem, you’re going to have a better success rate overall removing those derelict, nuisance properties and moving more towards infill and revitalization of areas,” he said.