Action on Nunavut housing shortage stalled: NHC president

Nunavut Housing Corp. President Terry Audla says predictable, dependable funding from Ottawa is necessary for Nunavut to address its extreme housing shortage. (FILE PHOTO)

It’s been more than a decade since the Nunavut Housing Corp. and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. unveiled their ambitious “10-Year Inuit Housing Action Plan,” and the NHC president, Terry Audla, says little has changed on the dire need for housing in Nunavut.

That’s according to statements Audla made during a presentation to the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Affairs March 23.

A copy of that statement was tabled at Nunavut’s legislature June 7.

Audla used his time before the Senate committee to push for long-term financing from the federal government to support the Government of Nunavut in planning its social housing.

“In 2016, more than 10 years later and after more than $500 million dollars invested in new construction, we are back to where we started,” Audla said, saying population growth in Nunavut is eliminating any headway made in constructing the estimated 3,000 new units needed to alleviate the housing crisis.

“We are calling still today for 3,000 new units to close the housing gap between Nunavut and the rest of Canada, in addition to what is needed to keep pace with population growth.”

According to presentation slides tabled with Audla’s written statement, 52 per cent of Nunavummiut live in social housing, and 38 per cent of those tenants live in overcrowded conditions.

In some communities, that figure is as great as 72 per cent, the presentation said.

“Consistent, predictable and adequate funding for new housing, along with increased support for operational costs, would allow Nunavut to develop at a much more meaningful pace to truly maximize the return on investments from the federal government,” he said.

At that meeting, committee chair Sen. Lillian Dyke questioned Audla on the status of the 10-Year Inuit Housing Action Plan.

“I wasn’t clear on whether that plan was ever actually implemented. Was it something that you had come together with [what] sounded like eight different organizations, and was the plan actually ever implemented?” Dyke asked, according to a transcript of the committee meeting available on the Senate of Canada’s website.

“Unfortunately, that plan was never implemented,” Audla replied, but told Dyke if the plan were ever re-introduced it would “still be very relevant today.”

And as more units are constructed, the operating costs to maintain the buildings are growing for both the NHC and the GN, Audla said.

According to Audla’s presentation, the average cost of a new public housing unit is between $400,000 and $550,000.

That, combined with the yearly operating costs of approximately $26,000 per housing unit, and Audla says the GN sees more of its annual budget funneled into the housing portfolio year after year.

“Currently the Government of Nunavut’s contribution to social housing makes up 9 per cent of its total [operations and maintenance] budget of $1.5 billion, but as we begin to address the 3,000-unit gap through new construction, we predict the costs of maintaining public housing will grow to up to 16 per cent of the GN’s total budget,” Audla said.

Any financial return on rents paid by tenants is unreasonable to expect in the current economy, Audla said, saying social housing rents are tied to income.

“In 2014 – 2015, 74.7 per cent of public tenants made less than $23,000 annually… the vast majority of tenants pay the minimum rent of only $60 [dollars a month].”

The current amount of rent revenue collected by the GN is only $13.5 million, with arrears of $29 million, Audla told the senate committee.

“We have been working towards trying to improve our collection of those arrears,” he said.

The NHC is currently completing the final phase of an initiative to “reduce the cost of housing, increase the supply of housing and determine more definitively the housing needs of Nunavummiut,” Audla said, but he said it can’t be implemented without federal help.

The Nunavut Housing Corp.’s appearance before the Senate standing committee was one part of a broader examination of northern housing challenges.

In April, members of the committee toured northern communities to evaluate housing conditions firsthand — visiting Iqaluit on April 20 — ahead of a new report on northern housing shortages.

That report is expected to be tabled in the Senate this fall.

On June 7, the minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp., George Hickes, told MLAs that 83 new housing units are scheduled for construction over the next fiscal year.