Overcrowdedness defines map of northern Canada

This map, called “Sleeping on the Couch,” shows the extent of overcrowded housing in northern Canada, with the highest percentage of overcrowded dwellings found in Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut. (IMAGE/CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA)

The title of the map “Sleeping on the Couch” may sound almost whimsical, says the Conference Board of Canada, but the reality of overcrowded housing in Canada’s North is no laughing matter.

Virtually all social and health problems increase dramatically when combined with overcrowded housing, says the organization in a Sept. 24 news release.

“Almost all social and health problems increase dramatically when combined with overcrowded housing,” said Gilles Rhéaume, the conference board’s vice-president for public policy. “Crowded housing is an issue that clearly demonstrates a north-south divide in Canada.”

In Statistics Canada’s Keewatin census division, which covers the Kivalliq region in Nunavut, 25 per cent of homes have six or more people living in them— the highest percentage of overcrowding in Canada.

Close behind are regions in five provinces which also have census divisions showing that 10 per cent or more of the homes are overcrowded.

These census divisions are:

* Northern Manitoba (Division No. 23 Churchill) – 20 per cent
* Northern Saskatchewan (Division No. 18, including La Ronge) – 18 per cent
* Northern Newfoundland and Labrador (Division No. 11 Nunatsiavut area) – 14 per cent
* Northern Quebec (Nunavik) – 14 per cent
* Northwestern Alberta (Division No. 17) – 10 per cent

While there are northern regions where overcrowding is less pronounced, such as the Northwest Territories and Yukon, the map shows overcrowded housing is more prevalent in the North.

Within Canada’s southern regions, the highest average number of households with six or more people living in them is only four per cent, in southern Ontario.

“Sleeping on the Couch” is the fifth map in a series from the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for the North’s, which are designed to illustrate the similarities and differences between Canada’s North and South and among northern regions.