Saskatchewan taxes residential property on 80 percent of its assessed value, and that assessment comes from the City of Saskatoon, reassessed on its own cycle rather than the day you buy. Add a typical home inspection of $400 to $600 and legal fees of $800 to $1,500 at purchase, and the true cost of owning is higher than the mortgage payment alone suggests.
Renting avoids all of that, along with maintenance and the risk of a home needing an unplanned repair, but every rent payment builds no equity and is exposed to future increases a fixed-rate mortgage payment is not.
Better is really about your own time horizon and appetite for upkeep, not a single number that applies to everyone. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.