This rural Saskatchewan town is offering $30,000 to anyone who builds a home there

In his bustling restaurant kitchen, Roman Chernyrk and his staff are cooking up food for an increasingly busy and multicultural Moosomin, Sask. He’s making trays of perogies alongside pizzas, chatting with his new-to-Canada employees in Ukrainian and English. 

“There’s such a great feeling of community that is hard to find these days — anywhere. That’s why this is home,” he said. “We’re growing.”

Chernyrk and his employees are part of an influx of population and business growth in Moosomin, a small, rural town about 20 kilometres west of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. The community says it’s preparing for its population of about 3,300 people to nearly double, based on its current rate of growth. 

Now, it’s offering $30,000 cash to anyone who builds a home there — an incentive that’s generating a lot of buzz and a flurry of interest from people looking to move there and could offer lessons for other rural communities trying to grow and retain their populations.

Murray Gray, a town councillor who chairs the economic development committee, says the community was conscious of other rural small towns in decline. 

“We recognize that, and we want to do our part to buck that trend and do some unique things in order to prevent that from happening,” he said.

Moosomin received $1 million from the federal government’s housing accelerator fund, which is being used for the incentive program. Any type of housing qualifies, including a single-family home, mobile home, basement suite or apartments. As soon as an occupancy permit is issued, the town gives the builder a cheque for $30,000 for the first door and $8,000 for each additional door.

Gray says the idea is already generating calls from developers looking to build. 

The town’s target is to see 48 new units built, which will get them close to what they need now. But Gray says they’ll need more if population growth stays on track, hence the cash incentive. 

“We just thought cash is easiest to market and cash is more impactful,” he said.

Diverse small-town economy

Moosomin, positioned between Winnipeg and Regina, has turned into a regional hub. It has several hotels, restaurants and three potash mines nearby, plus…