[ Housing ]

In regards to housing, there are several options, depending on your budget and your needs.

Temporary : all hotels and motels are available for you at any time. You may contact the FFS to help you find the information you are looking for, such as: addresses, etc.

Permanent residence : the city of Saskatoon offers two hand-books in English to further help you in the process. The Housing Handbook and the Renters Handbook are available for all on the internet site of the city of Saskatoon: www.saskatoon.ca/org/city_planning/affordable_housing. The Canadian Company for mortgages and renting can also give you information on the location of the accomodation and will counsel you in the different areas of locations on line: www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/fr. You should always estimate your budget if wanting to rent: rent, electricity (2 companies exist Sask Power and Saskatoon Light and Power) check the following considering the area that you will be living in: heating (Sask Energy)- you can ask to be on a monthly payment plan; water is often included in the rent; appliances included or not; furnished or unfurnished.

Looking for a house : one way of finding a house is by looking at the newspaper ads, you can also make an internet search. You can consult several internet sites to compare prices and the residences. The owner can ask you for personal and financial references, they can also ask you for a deposit which is in general a full months' rent. You have to find out what your responsibilities towards the house are as well as what the owner is responsibe for. We advise you to always have an insurance in order to be covered for any possible losses that could incur. Contact Saskatchewan Government Insurance at: 1-800-667-4686.

The Housing Cooperative 'Coopérative d'Habitation Villa Bonheur Ltée.' offers a secure and francophone environment in a well kept complex of apartments at a very reasonable rate.

Purchase of a house or condominium : contact a realtor to receive the services of an agent or agency that will help you through your steps towards purchasing a home. Apartments can also be found on Internet sites of these agencies, under the Listings sections.

Supplementary housing program : there are several programs allowing you to reduce the cost of living; Affordable Housing Rental, Social Housing Rental Program and other supplementary programs are available and addressed to families purchasing a house, to co-operatives and organizations, aiming to help reducing the costs. All these programs are managed by Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, you can call their toll free number: 1-866-245-5758.

Personal conveniences : telephone and Internet; contact (Sasktel or Shaw). Cellphones, contact (SaskTel, Fido, Telus and Rogers), different contracts may vary. Television, you can look through the flyers or in any of the local stores in the city and see where you can get the best deal or you can look into the several national and international chains; the companies are SaskTel, Access Communication, Star Choice and Shaw Cable.

Recycling : the majority of public places have recycling bins for paper, cardboard and plastic bottles. You can also subscribe with a residential recycling service: (recycling), Sarcan;
www.city.saskatoon.sk.ca www.abilitiescouncil.sk.ca/saskatoon/html/products/recycling.

For more details, please pick up our manual guide at the Federation des francophones de Saskatoon.