The permit is what an appraiser and a lender actually check, not the finish quality on its own. The City of Saskatoon inspects for egress windows, ceiling height and fire separation, and a beautifully finished suite built without that permit still fails the test for legal secondary income.
Once legality is established, development quality is the next factor: a full bathroom, proper insulation and a separate, working heat source all support a higher value than a suite missing one of those, which is also exactly what a buyer's home inspection, typically $400 to $600, will flag if it is missing.
Public records and online estimates generally see the square footage but not whether the work was permitted, which is precisely the gap a hand-reviewed valuation closes. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.