Housing stock plays a role too. Saskatoon has a large supply of single-family homes on individually owned lots rather than a housing market dominated by rental towers, and that stock naturally favours ownership over renting for buyers who can qualify.
Programs like the Home Buyers' Plan, which lets a first-time buyer withdraw up to $60,000, and the FHSA, which shelters up to $8,000 a year to a $40,000 lifetime limit, make the down payment gap smaller here than the sticker price alone suggests, since a lower benchmark price means those tools cover a larger share of what is needed.
Add it up and Saskatoon simply asks less of a household budget to become an owner than most other Canadian cities, which is the real reason the rate stays high rather than any one policy. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.