Instead of just looking at vacancy rates, you have to look closer at the affordability of these rental homes. There may be an increasing vacancy rate in some communities, but it may be a different picture if you look at how much affordable housing is available, and that’s something the Canadian Rental Housing Index wants you to think about when it comes to voting in the federal election. The Rental Housing Index reports that half of single moms who rent in Canada spend over the affordability benchmark of 30 per cent of their income on housing. In Saskatchewan, it’s 61 per cent of single mothers in this situation. Shaun Dyck, from Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, says the non-profit sector provides a lot of the City’s affordable housing and they are at or near zero vacancy. When you look at the private market, Dyck says the rents haven’t come down that much even with the higher vacancy rates, so they are inaccessible to many single moms, seniors, young adults, Indigenous households and new Canadians. Dyck hopes whichever party wins the election on October 21st will take action on this critical issue.