Economic growth, challenging budget reviewed by Regina’s mayor in annual address

Regina is “on the rise,” Mayor Chad Bachynski said in his 2026 State of the City address Thursday.

“It was a year of learning, of growth, of challenges, and frankly, trying to bring stability to the city,” the Mayor of Regina told the audience at the Conexus Arts Centre as he listed off positive statistics and rankings while also mentioning the challenging recent budget process.

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Bachynski reminded the crowd Regina was ranked most affordable city in Canada to buy a home in by RBC, while the Globe and Mail ranked Regina seventh for livability.

But it was a “hard year,” he said as he turned to the 2026 budget.

“The budget process was challenging, but also more transparent and more detailed than ever before, which is exactly what the public deserves,” Bachynski said.

He described the toll he says that work took.

“This job is not easy. It’s actually much harder than I imagined,” he said, “and every day I feel the weight of the decisions that we make on behalf of our residents. But I can tell you this council is fully committed to working together and making decisions in the best interest of our residents and our city now and into the future.

“In February, I took on a mental health push up challenge – 2,000 push ups in 23 days, not as a stunt, but as a reminder that strength often comes from struggle, and that it is okay, even for those in leadership roles to be vulnerable and ask for help and to lean on supports.”

Bachynski hopes people will understand there are human beings behind the titles, but at the same time they have to bring the same level of honesty and determination to the city’s challenges that they do to their personal struggles.

He elaborated while speaking with reporters after his address.

“It’s not fun trying to balance these things,” he said. “And the criticisms, they are absolutely – they can be valid. We can have respectful dialogue. We can have respectful conversations. And I want to hear that feedback, but in a respectful way.”

One of the ways he hopes to pick up on respectful feedback is through “coffee chats” he’s having organized. He hopes they’ll be more meaningful than some of what he hears through social media.

New national retailers on the way

Bachynski told the crowd he’s pleased to see several infill projects that are adding to the city’s tax base without requiring additional infrastructure. He cited the West Oaks proposal for more than 100 units at Broad and Broadway as well as projects in neighbourhoods like Heritage and Hillsdale.

“And at the same time, we are also expanding east and west with over 100,000 square feet of deals completed in both the Aurora and Horizons neighbourhoods,” he said. He mentioned the new Winners/Homesense at Aurora, which set an opening week record for the chain’s combo stores.

“We’re also seeing positive signs of growth and desired investment in our city with additional stores being added to our community, such as Regina’s very first IHOP – International House of Pancakes,” he said.

The mayor also identified a larger Sketchers store and an Under Armour store in the pipeline, as well as a Crumbl Cookie shop planned to open in Aurora later in the summer.

“Despite the challenges, and I recognize there are many, Regina has so much to celebrate, so much to be proud of and so much to look forward to,” Bachynski said, “and among the complexities that come with a growing city, we’re seeing incredible progress, meaningful partnerships and a community that continues to show resilience, creativity and heart.”