Iqaluit cabin policy still in works, 4 years on
Councillors air frustrations about illegal structures built on city lands
The City of Iqaluit is once again looking at developing a policy to regulate cabin building on municipal lands. (File photo by David Venn)
Iqaluit councillors aired their frustrations about cabins being built illegally in the city, as staff enter the fourth year of work on a policy to regulate them.
“It is an absolute mess out there,” Coun. Kyle Sheppard said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
Sheppard made the comment during an update from city planner Mathew Dodds about what a policy on cabins on municipal land might look like.
It would use zoning to designate where cabins will be permitted, he told councillors. And builders could be regulated through licensing instead of leases or temporary land use permits.
The city’s policy will also touch on enforcement, waste management and the outpost building rights included in the Nunavut Agreement — the term the agreement uses for cabins, Dodds said.
City staff started work on a cabin policy in fall 2020 with a goal to implement it by the following summer, but it has never come to fruition.
City spokesperson Geoff Byrne said in an email several factors delayed that work, including staff turnover in the planning department, changes in council, and “the need to divert resources for other emergencies.”
He also said there is no longer a timeline in place to finish the work.
In summer 2020, the city imposed what it described at the time as a temporary suspension of the building of cabins on city property.
But that hasn’t stopped people from setting up cabins in areas such as West 40 and along the road to the new landfill past Upper Base. It appears city administration hasn’t done much to enforce the prohibition either.
“These are illegal cabins that have been put up since the policy banning such structures was put in place,” Sheppard said.
He asked if it was possible for those cabins to be dismantled immediately.
Dodds didn’t give a clear yes or no, but said, “The city … reserves the right to simply remove the obstructions of the unauthorized development.”
He added that illegal cabins are punishable with fines from $2,500 to $10,000.
Coun. Romeyn Stevenson said the illegal cabins are “hurting” people’s enjoyment of Sylvia Grinnell River and other outdoor spaces.
“I know it’s hard and I know that thinking it through is difficult, but we need to really put our minds to making it and finding a solution,” Stevenson said.
Chief administrative officer Steve England said bylaw officers are investigating some of the cabins in areas where councillors raised concerns. Municipal enforcement officers will be at the next meeting to give councillors an update, he added.
In an email, Byrne confirmed city officials have an “ongoing investigation” into illegal cabins, but he couldn’t comment on it.
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the federal government have their own policies for allowing cabin building on their respective lands.
Remember were in Nunavut not south and welcome to Nunavut sheppard.
Yea eh, we don’t need no rules!
Or rules the actually work for Nunavut and that makes sense, the cookie cutter approach and trying to fit something from thousands of miles away does not work.
That’s the problem we have with Nunavut today a lot of the policies are designed for something in the south, thousands of miles away and completely different to how it is up here.
Here’s your policy:
1. Illegal cabins built before the suspension of building cabins on city lands will be left alone for now. The City reserves the right to change this at a later date.
2. Illegal cabins built after the suspension will be torn down after a 30 day removal notice is put on the cabin.
3. Residents can appeal the notice and must provide proof the cabin was built before the suspension in order to not have it torn down. Otherwise, you have the 30 day period to remove any belongings and material you want.
Then go ahead and start putting up notices. After 30 days, start tearing them down.
Under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act , Inuit in Nunavut have title to 352,191 square kilometres of land.Feb 20, 2024.
yeah, but that 352 191 km sq doesnt include the land that is being occupied in Iqaluit
It does actually include a small portion of city limits on the river (most north western part of city limits).
The area in question is easily accessible from iqaluit, in my wife’s case,her cabin was built near the location of her mother’s Qammmaq , and addheres to the building bylawinplace at the time of its construction, both height and square area. In my opinion some of the preexisting structures need to meet these requirements. It should be illegal to sell shacks that are legal existing shacks , but may be given to family members, or Inuit.
I think a lot of this stems from the fact that most Inuit don’t really know much of anything about the land claims agreement. Many think that it establishes the entire territory as Inuit-owned land and therefore is a free-for-all to do whatever they want, whenever they want.
One thing that most do not know, is that the agreement establishes Nunavut land that is owned by each community, not by Inuit. If Inuit would like to go build themselves a cabin on Inuit-owned land, they have the right to do so. Yet most do not care to understand the agreement or to look up municipal boundaries, they just think that they have the right to go build wherever, which often ends up being on municipal land as it has easy access.
If you start to tear them down, people will start to learn pretty quick.
Most of those cabins on Iqaluit Municipal land belong to Non-Inuit.
are you able to provide proof of this statement?
HC, just take a stroll around this area and see for yourself.
It’s difficult for people to know what to do when there is no clear policy in place
These buildings are going up for several reasons.
Some people want a cabin.
Some people build a cabin to have something to do.
But increasingly, people are building them because they need somewhere to live at a cost they can afford. Nunavut has lots of land, but government is all about “no you can’t” and making things too costly. Some people are tired of waiting. Some people can do simple arithmatic. They know that about 1,000 babies are being born each year in Nunavut. They know that even if the government reaches it’s target of 3,000 new homes built in Nunavut by 2030, Nunavut will have a worse housing shortage in 2030 than it had in 2020. Some people have decided that waiting for government is not the answer. Some people have chosen to take responsibility for their own lives by building their own home. The city of Iqaluit could have opened up land for development at a reasonable price, but it did not. It chose a path that drives up the price of houses already buit. Those prices are too high for most people to afford. So people are choosing to ignore those high prices. Now those wanting to sell their high priced “investments” are trying to pressure the city to demolish the homes people have built for themselves.
I believe it is also the Housing associations policies that are hindering this ability to create more homes in nunavut. the policies are more incline to assist families that have low income and no cash flow to the association. if i were to apply for housing as a single person with 50K + a year, i would pay more for the same space and appliances as a family of 4 that make 10K a year. on top of that, rent may increase for what ever repairs that other housing renters have damaged to their unit.
and if i were able to even get a unit within a year. on top of a long wait list, got friends that waited more than 5 years for their own place
There is a huge demand for cabins here. Many people like to get out on the land and enjoy the outdoors – inuk or not.
The city waited too long to come up with its policy on cabins. They can’t just say stop, then not come up with a way to regulate cabin builds. You can’t really blame people for just building without permission, because there was no way to ask for it.
At the very least, the city should designate some areas where cabins are and are not permitted. Every cabin should be registered, so there is accountability if someone makes a mess.
Any why not allow the sale of cabins? They take time and money to build. Allowing transfers recognizes that.
Council has been clear in its broad intention:
All the Cabins are illegal, those built before Spring 2020 will be treated favourable, those built later will be treated unfavourably.
They need to work out more details of what favourably and unfavourably means… Council can’t just blame adminstration for not answering these clearly political questions.