Overcrowded housing still plagues Inuit regions

About one in five Canadian Inuit now reside outside their Arctic homelands in southern Canada, Statistics Canada census numbers show.

Those numbers, gathered during the 2006 national census and released Feb. 15, show 8,395 Inuit lived that year in urban centres outside the four Inuit homelands, or "Inuit Nunaat," while another 2,610 Inuit lived in southern rural areas.

That adds up to 11,005 Inuit, 22 per cent of all Inuit in Canada, who live in the South.

"The fact that more and more Inuit are leaving their communities should be of concern to us," Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said this week.

This week's Inuit population numbers are part of a larger Statistics Canada report devoted to aboriginal peoples in Canada, based on information census workers gathered in 2006.

Statistics Canada counted 39,475 Inuit who live in Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut and the Inuvialuit region of the Northwest Territories. That represents 78 per cent of all Canadian Inuit, who now total 50,485 people as of 2006.

The Inuit population is still increasing in Nunavut, where it now stands 20 per cent higher than in 1996, and in Nunavik where it's 25 per cent higher than in 1996.

But it's the proportion of Inuit living outside the Arctic that shows the most dramatic increase. It's 62 per cent higher than 10 years ago.

Simon said she knows that Inuit leave the Arctic for a variety of reasons, including work, education and family.

But she says these numbers may show that Inuit are also migrating out of the Arctic to escape poor housing, poor government services, and unemployment.

"I think young people especially are leaving to get employment," Simon said.

Another telling set of numbers point to another possible reason: overcrowded housing.

Statistic Canada found that 38 per cent of Inuit residing in the four Inuit homelands occupy crowded dwelling places, with "crowded" defined as more than one person per room.

But only 5 per cent of Inuit living in the south occupy crowded housing units.

"Some people can't live in their homes anymore because of overcrowding… We have a long way to go to reduce overcrowding," Simon said.

Statistics Canada also reveals that Arctic social housing units are still poorly maintained and dilapidated.

In Nunavik, which owns the worst stock of social housing in the Arctic, 46 per cent of Inuit live in housing that's in need of major repair. In 1996, only 8 per cent of Nunavik Inuit lived in damaged dwellings.

In Nunavut, 26 per cent of Inuit live in dwellings that need major repairs, up from 21 per cent in 1996.

For Simon, this is a sign that badly maintained housing units pose a growing threat to the health of children, as was earlier revealed in studies that linked household mould to respiratory diseases.

And she points out that 12 per cent of the Inuit population is made up of pre-school children under the age of four years. Simon says that's a sign that governments must pour more money into early childhood programs for Inuit.

As for language, Statistics Canada's latest numbers show that Inuit language use is still declining slowly across the Inuit regions.

In Nunavut for example, 88 per cent of Inuit report the Inuit language as their mother tongue, but only 64 per cent say it's the language they use most often at home, down from 76 per cent in 1996.

In Nunavik, however, 98 per cent of Inuit report the Inuit language as their mother tongue, and 94 per cent say they use it at home most often.

Simon says the Nunavut language numbers show that proposed new laws, such as the Education Act and the GN's language package, are badly needed.

Here's Statistics Canada's latest breakdown of Canada's Inuit population, showing where Inuit now live:

• Nunavut: 24,635 Inuit, 49 per cent of total;
• Nunavik: 9,565 Inuit, 19 per cent of total;
• Inuvaluit region: 3,115 Inuit, 6 per cent of total;
• Nunatsiavut: 2,160 Inuit, 4 per cent of total;
• Urban centres: 8,395 Inuit, 17 per cent of total
• Rural areas in south: 2,610 Inuit, 5 per cent of total
• Total for Inuit Nunaat: 39,745
• Total number of Inuit in southern Canada: 11,005
• Total number of Inuit Canada: 50,485.

An urban centre, or "census metropolitan area" is defined as having a population of at least 100,000.

Here are Statistics Canada's 2006 numbers, showing the proportion of Inuit who live in overcrowded conditions:

• Nunavut: 39 per cent;
• Nunavik: 49 per cent;
• Inuvialuit region: 19 per cent;
• Nunatsiavut: 13 per cent;
• Inuit living outside the Arctic: 5 per cent;
• Canada's non-aboriginal population: 3 per cent.

Here are Statistics Canada's numbers showing the proportion of Inuit who use the Inuit language at home more often than any other language:

• Nunavut: 64 per cent;
• Nunavik: 94 per cent;
• Nunatsiavut: 7 per cent;
• Inuvialuit region: 3 per cent;
• Inuit living outside Inuit Nunaat: 4 per cent.

For the Statistics Canada's full report on aboriginal peoples, go to: www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080115/d080115a.htm.