Nunavik Housing Bureau budgets $105M for home renovations this year
Plan aims to send workers to update homes in nearly all regional communities
Lupin Daignault, director of real estate and renovations for Nunavik Housing Bureau, credits staff at the Kuujjuaq office for helping create the renovations plan for this year. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
The Nunavik Housing Bureau has budgeted more than $105 million for renovations this year — a move that will see work happening across the region.
The plan is several years in the making and follows the federal government’s seven-year $3.2 billion commitment from two years ago to improve housing across Quebec, said Lupin Daignault, the bureau’s director of real estate and renovations, in an interview at the Kuujjuaq office.
The Nunavik Housing Bureau’s Kuujjuaq office has planned $105 million in renovations for the 2024 construction season. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)
He said five villages are on this list this summer to be visited by contractors who will be taking care of major renovations.
Twenty units are to be renovated in Salluit, 20 in Kuujjuaq, 16 in Puvirnituq, 13 in Kuujjuaraapik and two in Kangiqsualujjuaq.
Daignault said the housing bureau is aiming for work in seven villages next year, including three that have already had their contracts awarded.
Major renovations are costly, Daignault said.
“We do the sidings, the roof, the doors, the windows, balconies, stairs, the exterior, we do everything anew,” he said.
The aim is to finish this year’s work by October at the latest.
There are also smaller projects on the go, including in 10 units each in Tasiujaq and Ivujivik, where two contractors will take care of renovating house facings.
Plans also call for replacing windows in multiple communities.
“Ten to 15 years ago, windows were badly installed,” Daignault said. “We decided that with some of the money, we would replace windows for these units.”
This includes 15 units in Quaqtaq, 16 in Kangiqsujuaq, 10 in Kangirsuk and 18 in Aupaluk.
As well, there is $11 million set aside for either contractors or Nunavik Housing Bureau technicians to do minor work in houses that are, for the most part, temporarily vacant.
To decide the order in which houses will be repaired, the housing bureau has a team of six inspectors who travel around Nunavik. All houses are visited every five years, inspected and receive a building health assessment.
Based on those results, the houses will receive a grade according to the Facility Condition Index, which is a Canada-wide metric. Houses are graded on a best-to-worst basis from A to E, with those getting Ds and Es to undergo work soonest.
The federal government made $3.2 billion available from 2022 to 2028 to improve housing across all of Quebec.
This has made the Nunavik Housing Bureau’s work easier, said Daignault.
One construction season can take three years to plan, he said, due to complexities caused by sealift schedules, availability of contractors and availability of materials.
In an agreement with Makivvik — the Inuit corporation responsible for generating jobs and improving housing conditions — another $20 million is available for the Nunavik Housing Bureau to fix damaged houses that had been considered total losses.
Akulivik, Inukjuak, Kangiqsujuaq, Kangirsuk and Puvirnituq will see their damaged houses repaired in 2024 and 2025. The housing bureau also has $6 million budgeted to repair damaged houses that require simpler fixes.
This year and next year are considered important times for renovations, Daignauilt said. After the lull in construction around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, “the needs are great.”
There will also be new idea incorporated into this new round of construction.
For instance, roofs are replaced now with sheet metal. Previously, asphalt clapboard was used but that was more expensive because, for environmental reasons, it had to be shipped back down south for disposal after it was discarded.
– Twenty units are to be renovated in Salluit, 20 in Kuujjuaq, 16 in Puvirnituq, 13 in Kuujjuaraapik and two in Kangiqsualujjuaq.
– There are also smaller projects on the go, including in 10 units each in Tasiujaq and Ivujivik, where two contractors will take care of renovating house facings.
– Plans also call for replacing windows in multiple communities. This includes 15 units in Quaqtaq, 16 in Kangiqsujuaq, 10 in Kangirsuk and 18 in Aupaluk.
– As well, there is $11 million set aside for either contractors or Nunavik Housing Bureau technicians to do minor work in houses that are, for the most part, temporarily vacant.
-Major renovations are costly, Daignault said. THAT seems to be a bit of an understatement if they are spending $105 million for renovations at approximately 150 units. That is an average cost of nearly $700,000 per unit
You forget, that cost includes the room and board for workers, who will be budgeted overtime.
There are also additional logistics costs like freight marshaling, and crating.
These are also multi year projects that need to have hedges built in for inflation or other factors that don’t apply to project management in other locations…
Thanks for the humor, John; it has merits along with any other comment. I bet you’re a hoot when you get together with your buddies for a good laugh and a few beers.
I hope thy will fix the entrance, stretchers couldn’t get out.
Especially the dublexes
All the entrances of all buildings were too narrow and short.
First responders are having tough time on that.
I hope they not thy.
We are the nation of free loading; why can’t some tenants take care of the cost of renovation? I been renovating/caring of my house for over 40 yrs.
Sweat equity builds appreciation for the roof over your head. Able bodied habitats could be required to contribute.
Nice, soo much money being poored out left and right. Renovations, pivallianiq program. Meanwhile KMHB maintenence trucks roam the streets nonstop from 9am to 5pm driving around instead of doing preventive maintenence on these units.
On another note, i wonder when nunavik communities (other then kuujjuaq) will get a visit by NHB to explain the home ownership program to nunavimmiut, sooo many homes being erected in kuujjuaq but the rest of the region is being left out by not being informed of the program…….