The City of Regina’s decision to try a new strategy for dealing with nuisance properties has turned eyes toward the original inspiration: Edmonton.
Cate Watt, lead assessor with the City of Edmonton, says there’s plenty of information to share about their innovative taxation approach.
“We have been quite under the spotlight over our derelict subclass,” Watt told the Regina Leader-Post. “A lot of people are really interested in it, and that’s been exciting.”
Edmonton was the first city in Canada to create a derelict residential property subclass, imposing a substantially higher tax rate on problem lots to pressure owners into cleaning them up.
Regina city council is ready to do the same, voting to create a new subclass whereby properties classified as derelict will be taxed at five times the usual residential rate.
City administration had suggested sticking with status-quo bylaw enforcement, but Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores found enough support from fellow councillors to approve the subclass on March 25.
The decision tied a bow on more than a year of internal review, first requested by council in 2024.
The city plans to spend the next year on an initial scan to identify eligible properties before firming up details in time for the 2028 taxation year.
As that work unfolds, Watt said Edmonton’s progress may help Regina create its blueprint.
A home sits boarded up in Regina, Saskatchewan on Feb. 21, 2020.
What is Edmonton doing?
The origin story behind Edmonton’s strategy reads a lot like the one in Regina. Councillors heard a swell of concerns from residents about sketchy, boarded-up houses that were an increasing source of fires, crime and safety risks.
So, in 2023, Edmonton city council decided to try taxing neglectful property owners into action by charging them three times the normal rate.
The subclass was first applied in 2024 for a select zone within Edmonton’s mature, central neighbourhoods.
“It’s been very successful in achieving what city council was attempting to achieve,” said Watt.
Related
Edmonton defines “derelict” as any residential property that is clearly neglected or unliveable. It also applies to homes that have been abandoned mid-construction or mid-demolition.
Since 2023, Edmonton has classified 441 properties as “derelict” — 202 in 2024 and 239 in 2025. About 30 per cent have taken action, either by demolishing, remediating or selling the home.
Very few have tried to fight the designation, Watt added. Four appeals were filed in 2024 and the city prevailed in the two that went before the appeals board. The other two were retracted.
After the initial rollout, Edmonton added a tax forgiveness element whereby owners can have the additional taxes refunded for the time period they spend waiting on demolition or building permits.
Edmonton has collected just over $2.55 million via the subclass but Watt said the program is essentially breaking even because of the cost to deliver it.
“The goal was never to make money,” Watt said. “It is a tool along with a suite of other tools.”
It’s been so successful that Edmonton plans to expand the subclass citywide in 2027. The city is also eyeing a similar version for non-residential properties, Watt said.
Wendy Miller, executive director of the Heritage Community Association, sits for a portrait inside the HCA offices on Thursday March 20, 2025 in Regina.
What about Regina?
The Queen City’s core neighbourhoods are in a similar spot, with community leaders calling for a change in approach to the growing problem of nuisance properties.
According to the city, by the end of 2025 it had catalogued 894 properties under the “nuisance” definition of the community standards bylaw, which ranges from boarded-up houses to overgrown grass.
Bylaw enforcement officers investigated 173 such properties in 2024, issuing 87 demolition orders and completing 44 demolitions. Most were in older neighbourhoods like North Central, Heritage and Al Ritchie.
Heritage Community Association executive director Wendy Miller and North Central Community Association executive director Pat Faulconbridge have compared notes about the issue in their respective areas.
Both agree it’s a positive step for Regina to utilize taxation as a deterrent, in addition to bylaw-related fines and orders.
“When we don’t do anything, we’re sending a message that this is OK in our community,” said Miller. “Hopefully, with this new subclass passing, that will help get folks thinking in a different way.”
Miller and Faulconbridge also hope the city will go beyond taxing and issuing fines.
Faulconbridge says the greater solution requires hand-in-hand incentives, ones that encourage targeted owners to fix up their dilapidated houses instead of tearing them down.
“We would like to see some of these houses stay in the market, stay available because affordable housing is such a challenge in our neighbourhood,” said Faulconbridge.
“We don’t want to see empty lots,” added Miller. “We want to see new builds.”
Pat Faulconbridge, executive director of the North Central Community Association, stands for a portrait at the Mamaweyatitan centre on Thursday Feb. 8, 2024 in Regina.
Applying lessons learned
Watt said many of Edmonton’s torn-down properties are still empty lots, but some have been redeveloped into new housing. Talk is even underway to add another subclass for vacant properties, she said.
Asked what Edmonton has learned so far, Watt said a careful definition of “derelict” is key.
“It needed to be specific enough that any appeal board would know what we meant by derelict, but also broad enough to capture what we meant by derelict. It was sort of a threading of a needle in creating that definition,” Watt explained.
Regina’s definition is still being determined, but Flores asked for the subclass to address residential properties that are “deserted or abandoned, partially or fully boarded up” or flagged as “unfit for habitation.”
In hindsight, one thing Watt would change about Edmonton’s rollout was the timeline. The city moved swiftly after council green-lit the policy, taking just a few months before applying it to property tax bills.
Some residents said they were caught off guard by the sudden financial hit, she said, noting her office fielded calls expressing those concerns.
Watt thinks Regina’s plan to launch the program in 2028 sounds better, musing that the “long runway” might even spur some to owners to be proactive.
All in all, Watt believes Regina can expect this tactic to help move the needle on neglect, so long as the city continues to use taxation in tandem with fines, bylaw orders and fire inspections.
“Based entirely on Edmonton’s experience, I’d say (Regina can be) reasonably hopeful,” she added.
— with files from the Edmonton Journal
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