The City of Weyburn’s Planning and Development department provided their annual report to Weyburn City Council Monday night. The report, which highlights the activities when it comes to construction and development permits in the city, showed that things were comparable to recent years, but are still down from just before the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“We saw pretty average numbers in terms of building permit applications and development permit applications,” explained Janine Fletcher, the Planning and Development officer with the City of Weyburn. “In 2022 we saw 60 building permit applications, which is pretty on average for the last few years – in 2021 we saw 64, so fairly similar; and the same case for the development permit applications, we saw 34 applications in 2022 and 35 in 2021.” 

In terms of new builds for dwellings in Weyburn, there were four permits issued last year. One of those permits was for a single-family dwelling, while the other three were for mobile homes. This was one more than was seen in 2021 when there were three permits for new homes issued.  

The value of the permits issued in 2022 was $6,230,000. This was slightly down from where it was in 2021. Additionally, there were no permits issued for institutional or civic permits. This can sometimes increase the numbers quite substantially for the year they were issued, mainly due to the cost of facilities of that size.  

The development permits cover things such as the change of use for a business, adding to a home, mobile food vendors and more. Of the 34 that were submitted to the City of Weyburn in 2022, four were initially rejected, although three of those would be approved by the Development Appeals Board. One application was withdrawn, and one is still pending.  

Last year was also the first year of the city’s Commercial Incentive Program. Launched in January 2022, it is designed to incentivize commercial development in the city through tax concessions and rebates. The number of applications received for the program, however, was below what was anticipated.  

“In 2022 we saw fairly low uptake with only two applications,” Fletcher said. “We’re hoping to see some more applications in 2023. The Planning and Development department is working to get more information out there about the program and what may be eligible.” 

The program is available for three different categories: site and façade improvements, new construction, and vacant buildings. The site and façade stream is for exterior work only and the vacant building stream is for properties that have been vacant for more than 12 months and a new business occupies the site.