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Saskatoon has one of the fastest turnaround times for processing building permits in the country.
Lately, though, the city has been struggling to maintain that high standard.
The city says it is currently taking up to 15 days to process a residential building permit application, 10 days longer than normal.
Chris Guerette, the CEO of the Saskatoon and Region Home Builders’ Association, says she is hearing concerns from contractors about the longer review time.
“Four weeks to turn around a permit to build a garage is really unacceptable when it really takes one to two days to build that garage,” she said.
“Every time there is a delay, there are dollars tied to that (and) there is work that can’t happen. If the economy can’t roll as quickly as it should, that means we are holding back our growth and holding back our potential.”
In a statement, the director of building standards for the city, Kara Fagnou, pinned the long review period on a staffing shortage and a larger workload due to the increased pace of residential construction.
Guerette said the delay in reviewing permits has been gradually worsening over the past few months. She met with city officials Thursday to see what can be done to get it back on track with the busy spring construction season just around the corner.
“We want to be patient (and) we want to be part of the solution in making that happen, but at this point, there is definite frustration,” said Guerette.
“We know we can do it. We know during the pandemic that we’ve been able to deliver that service so how do we get back to that?”
Guerette said demand for new homes and renovation projects has increased, as people are spending more time at home during the pandemic.
