Group calls for new direction in providing elders’ housing in Nunavut
Iqaluit Elders Society says GN should change focus of its strategy so more elders live close to home
About a dozen people gather at the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre on Wednesday for a pre-election event focused on elder housing. (Photo by Arty Sarksisian)
Construction is expected to start next year on a $60-million apartment complex in Iqaluit to ease what one organizer calls an elders “housing crisis.”
Anne Crawford, project co-ordinator with Pairijiit Tigummiaqtikkut, says relocating elders to distant long-term facilities is “robbing” communities of elders’ knowledge. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
“We’ve gotta rethink institutional care,” said Anne Crawford, project co-ordinator with Pairijiit Tigummiaqtikkut or the Iqaluit Elders Society, which has been the proponent since 2022.
She spoke Wednesday at an event organized by the elders society calling on the Government of Nunavut to take a new direction on elder housing. It was held at the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre, with about a dozen people in attendance including some candidates running in Monday’s territorial election.
The plan is to construct the apartment building for elders on a triangle of land between Ataani Lane, Kuugalaaq Street and Nipisa Street. It’s set to have approximately 45 units plus gathering areas, sewing space, a pharmacy, daycare, small chapel and its own power generator.
Work is expected to be completed in 2027, project consultant Jamie Flaherty said. Funding comes from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.
Currently, about 1,700 Nunavummiut are aged 65 or older, a report completed in January by the elders society said.
Of that group, 29 per cent live in homes that need major repairs — a rate six times higher than in the rest of Canada — and 31 per cent live in “unsuitable conditions” which is 11 times higher than the national rate.
Crawford called the GN’s plan to build three elders’ facilities in Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay a “one-size-fits-all solution.”
The Iqaluit Elders Society has found that 87 per cent of the government’s “elder-focused funding” goes toward paying for institutional care, both in-territory as well as at places like Embassy West Senior Living in Ottawa which serves only 2.7 per cent of Nunavummiut aged 65 and older.
Those long-term care facilities are primarily geared to elders with severe disabilities and who require around-the-clock care, while “ignoring” elders who are able to support themselves, Crawford said.
“And they’re so expensive, like millions of dollars” to operate because of the high level of care offered, she said of those facilities.
The recently-opened $59.4-million 24-bed long-term care facility in Rankin Inlet has an annual operating budget of about $15 million, or about $625,000 per resident. The facility is part of the Nunavut government’s plan announced in 2019 to offer 156 extended-care beds to elders in the territory by 2030 — 24 beds each in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot Regions and 108 beds for Iqaluit.
The elders society is proposing to keep the existing funding at the Rankin Inlet facility and Embassy West but redirect an estimated $330 million in capital funding and $82.5 million in operating funding from the facilities planned for Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit to instead build housing units for elders in all of Nunavut’s 25 communities.
Such a plan could result in 584 elders’ housing units being built across Nunavut, instead of the 132 long-term care beds currently designated to be opened in Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay, the report stated.
That would also help free up public housing units across the territory to provide more housing for younger people and families.
Crawford said the elders society hopes that, over time, it would lead to more elders being able to live close to home instead of having to relocate south or to regional centres.
“Staying in the community will keep them healthy,” she said “And taking elders away is also robbing the communities of their knowledge.”
Hi Anne and the rest of Pairijiit Tigummiaqtikkut,
I’ve said before on NN comments, I think one thing that’s needed in this territory are family homes with Elders’ suites. If you have essentially an apartment that is attached to a home, with both exterior and interior access, it gives the Elder connection (literally and metaphorically) to their family who are right there to help provide care, to have family dinners, to pass on traditional knowledge and language, while also maintaining their own dignity and privacy when desired.
It is less expensive (per unit) to build two units in one building footprint than it is to construct two separate buildings, and I’m sure this concept could even be designed into rowhouse/plex type buildings as well.
There’s a potential for subsidies to be provided to families who care for their own Elders, I’m sure it would be cheaper than $625,000 per year being paid for the Rankin facility.
Best of luck. I never liked the regional hub Elder living facilities myself, it still involves most Elders being at least a plane ride away from their family.
The Iqaluit Elders Society does not speak for all Elders in Nunavut. If the Government of Nunavut truly wants to hear from Elders about the type of care they would like to receive, then they are well advised to cast their net wider than just the city where they happen to live and work.
I personally have no idea whether, if asked, the majority of Elders in Nunavut would rather be provided elder housing in their own community (without specialized, continual or advanced care conveniently not mentioned), or have the option of moving to a regional center still in Nunavut when their care needs go beyond what can be provided in their home community.
However, I do think it is worth asking them – all of them- and not just relying on a small subset of people who are only a 2 hour jet ride away from Embassy West; which might as well be on the Moon for Inuit elsewhere in Nunavut.
I myself think the idea of building 584 Elder units across Nunavut instead of elder care centers in Nunavut is ridiculous. If such a plan were implemented, what would happen to an Elder as soon as they experienced a medical, mobility, or mental issue that could not be handled locally? This is an increasingly common occurrence no matter how nice or new an Elder’s house is.
The answer is, they would be sent away, anyway. With the limited beds at Rankin, most probably to Ottawa. This is our unacceptable status quo.
No one has a monopoly on Elders issues. If you want an excellent source on want Elders say they want, including opinions on housing and living in community, you can look to this GN sponsored report:
What We Heard – October 2023 – compiled from 5 regional elder gatherings – Doc 256-2
on the Legislative Assembly website under Tabled Documents.
The comments section of Nunatsiaq News is a secondary source, but may be more focused on personal opinion.
Another excellent idea. We need to work with all these options to best serve our communities. One size will never fit for all.
We are a family of…We live with an Elder who has a public unit with enough space, we are being refused our own place. We did not sign up to look after this now Elder foerever. Now it seems we need to wait for their death until we can finally be allocated a unit. It refuses to live alone. Our mental health is struggling due to this issue. A survey should be done to find who actually wants to look after these Elders who live with other people.
This is why nothing can ever get done in a timely manner and within budget in Nunavut.
Too many opinions, too many issues, too much consultants which all drives up the cost of everything.
Just get it done…..sooner the better.
Yes yes your opinion matters but we have to act now on this housing crisis.
They should just build build build!
Will there be a place for our Inuit Elders that are staying at the Embassy in Ottawa with dementia and Alzheimer’s in the new facility. They should not be forgotten as most of them ask to go home all the time, as some still have their memory of their home land and family.