In market-free Nunavik, housing a government-only concern

KUUJJUAQ — If you’re in the market for a home in this community, you’ll have a tough time.

You won’t see any “for sale” or “for rent” signs to help you out: to find a place of your own in the administrative hub of Nunavik, you’ll need to qualify for a social housing unit or find an employer who provides staff housing.

That’s because in Kuujjuaq, as elsewhere in Nunavik, there’s no private housing market to speak of. Only a brave few build their own homes, and there are no privately-owned apartment complexes.

Created in 1999, the Kativik Municipal Housing Bureau is the region’s largest landlord: it manages about 2,000 social housing units in 14 communities.

There are 400 staff units and less than 150 privately-owned homes in the region, but only about 40 of these private residences have been built within the last 10 years.

The KMHB’s manager, Watson Fournier, admits home ownership programs haven’t worked. Setbacks to home ownership include high construction costs, problems in obtaining insurance, high cost of utilities and competition from staff housing.

In theory, home ownership grants cover up to 76 per cent of a house’s purchase cost, but the maximum allowable amount of a grant is based on the cost of a smallish home.

“Part of the problem is that people always want to build houses larger than they need. If you build a castle, the subsidy drops down to 50 per cent,” Fournier said.

Most prospective homeowners aren’t interested in buying the compact, ready-to-live-in units, which the KMHB and the regional health board have ordered in the past. These prefabricated one- and two-bedroom homes only cost about $200,000, but they’re not everyone’s idea of a dream house.

Makivik Corporation, which administers Nunavik’s social housing construction program, doesn’t favour them even for social housing because there’s no local labour involved.

“The bad part is that there’s no economic benefit, but for an individual whose preoccupation is his mortgage, it’s appealing,” Fournier said.

Despite a plan to increase rents for most social housing tenants over the next 15 years, a couple who both work still won’t have much incentive to move out of social or staff housing.

But the KMHB is now making sure new social housing units go to those who need it most. Every year, about 50 new units are built. This year, Kuujjuaq received 12 new duplexes.

As of July 1, a new selection process says who gets priority to live in these new units. Applications are now identified by numbers, to make sure the entire process remains fair.

Priority is given to applicants with disabilities and victims of conjugal abuse at the top of the list as well as those who have been made homeless by disasters or evictions from unfit dwellings.

The new point-by-point evaluation of applicants for social housing also takes into account other factors, including household income, physical quality of the dwelling, overcrowding, the presence of minor children and whether any money is owed to the KMHB.

Of the $6.5 million collected last year in rent, the KMHB was stiffed for $1 million. Quebec’s rental board now holds sessions in every Nunavik community, meeting social housing tenants who have arrears, making deals with those who are willing to pay and garnishing the incomes of those who don’t.

Oddly enough, according to the KMHB, the worst cases of arrears aren’t found among the poorest people, but the more well-off tenants who prefer to put their money into snowmobiles or holidays instead of rent.

To help tenants who can afford more to pay more and own a home, Quebec’s housing bureau, la Société d’Habitation du Québec, is rethinking its hesitancy to hold a sale of public housing units in Nunavik.

To help the least advantaged in the region, several new government-assisted affordable housing projects are also underway: a supervised residence for Nunavimmiut with mental health problems or mental limitations in Kuujjuaq; a cooperatively-owned $1.8 million elders centre in Puvirnituq; and, a transition home for abused women in Salluit.
And to represent the overall interests of tenants, the KRG is proposing that the municipal housing bureau have its own full-time chairperson, similar to other regional organizations in Nunavik. This chairperson would be elected by social housing tenants for a three-year mandate.