Some struggling to find housing in booming Estevan

Housing shortages have become a serious problem in Estevan, a southeastern Saskatchewan city in the midst of a prolonged resource boom.

It has one of the lowest unemployment rates, but also one of the lowest apartment vacancy rates, in the country.

That's a situation that's creating stress, but also some opportunities for those able to provide housing.

Among those who are dealing with a less-than-ideal situation is Larry Armstrong, who has a job, but says he can't afford to rent an apartment.

And so, in the middle of a Saskatchewan winter, he's living inside his camper.

There isn't much space, but there are the bare essentials: a bed, a table and an electric heater.

Apartment rents in the city of 11,000 are just too high, he says.

"It's not really affordable to me," he said. "I don't make a whole bunch of money."

His case is not unique, according to Lieut. Brian Bobolo of the Salvation Army, who says people are moving to Estevan from across Canada.

"They come for the jobs but what they don't realize until they arrive is there's no place to live in Estevan," he said.

And so, Bobolo says, people end up sleeping in their cars or in ATM kiosks.

That's why this month the Salvation Army helped open the city's first ever homeless shelter.

Andrew Stone, 23, from B.C., is still looking for a job, said he's living out of a suitcase and has had to stay at the shelter. He was offered a single bedroom outside of the city for $1,200 a month, but couldn't afford it. When he's not at the shelter he "couch surfs" at his friends' places.

Meanwhile, the flood of workers has been a boon for Almas Choudhary, who's cashing in on the crunch by renting out his basement for $1,600 a month.

He's also renting two bedrooms just down the hall from where he and his wife sleep, with one of them going for $1,250 a month.

"It's pretty good," he said. "I'm basically living for free. I guess there's a lot of people here in Estevan taking advantage of that."

Meanwhile, many would like to see the supply of affordable apartments increased. Estevan's Mayor Mayor Roy Ludwig says he's lobbying the provincial government for low-income housing.