Public housing waitlist grew by one applicant per day in 2025: NTI manager
Business leaders discuss building infrastructure during the Nunavut Trade Show
Aaron Pedersen, project manager of housing and homelessness with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., speaks on an infrastructure panel during the Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit on Tuesday. (Photo by Daron Letts)
This story was updated on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET
By the time the four-day Nunavut Trade Show wraps up in Iqaluit on Thursday, four more applicants will have been added to the territory’s housing wait list.
That’s because, last year, the housing waitlist grew by 365 applicants, says Aaron Pedersen, project manager of housing and homelessness with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
“That’s one more family every single day,” he said.
That is one of several sobering statistics Pedersen cited during Tuesday’s mid-morning panel discussion, “Building our territorial infrastructure.” The panel also featured Qikiqtaaluk Corp. president and CEO Harry Flaherty, Nukik Corp. senior project adviser Tom Garrett, and Kitikmeot Corp. president and CEO David Omilgoitok.
“In a territory with fewer than 10,000 occupied homes, the line for a house is more than one-third the length of the entire housing stock,” Pedersen said.
Of the new homes being built, close to 95 per cent are public housing.
“Nationally, it’s six per cent,” he said.
Of the 61 per cent of Nunavummiut who live in public housing, 45 per cent live in overcrowded dwellings, he added.
Pedersen suggested that those in charge of industrial projects “can’t staff positions from an overcrowded home.”
Igluvut Corp., a housing non-profit that aunched in April, provides an alternative housing model, he said.
The organization owns, operates and maintains affordable housing for Inuit that isn’t tied to a job, and with fixed rent that’s not tied to income.
The organization is backed by a $135-million Inuit Housing Fund, which includes $63 million from the repayment of a Nunavut Agreement Negotiation Loan, along with $72 million from the 2022 federal budget.
“The model is simple,” Pedersen said.
Inuit associations build the homes, and Igluvut takes over to manage and maintain them.
Igluvut’s first 21, three-bedroom homes are being finished this fall in Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Clyde River and Grise Fiord.
Nine more units are earmarked for Igloolik.
Of the 750 homes pledged to be built in the territory through the $250 million from the federal Build Canada Homes program, Igluvut will manage 25 through its housing model, Pedersen said, adding that NTI is working on a proposal for 400 more.
Correction: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Aaron Pedersen’s name and his job title.
I can’t afford to continue to underwrite the welfare recipients masquerading as NTI and other NGO staff.
At $1,200,000 per house, there’s lots of opportunity for the right people to become very rich, if they do things properly.
There’s also lots of opportunity to accomplish nothing, if things are not done properly.
I am sure you are in charge of housing projects in Nunavut, and they asked for your input.
Nunavut 3000 is a long way off. Nunavut needs construction workers and the community governments should promote local jobs for all the young men and women who rely on social assistance instead of waiting for non residents to build houses.
It truly was unfortunate for Mr. Pederson and the other panel members to have been sitting on that stage with Harry Flaherty the President & CEO of Qikiqtaaluk Corp. You see, he is also one of the Owners of NCCD and the now NCC3000. Those names sound familiar? Sure, they do. NCCD/NCC3000 was awarded by Nunavut Housing Corporation (NHC) in 2022 a “Sole Source Contract” (SSC) for 2000 of the 3000 homes that constituted the now infamous Nunavut NHC’s Nunavut 3000.
Any credibility that man and his company might have had in the past, has long since left the building (literally). This after all, is the same company that was to build 1400 public housing units. The first builds of 316 units in 2023 and 2024 were to be delivered to NHC for occupancy in Oct 2024 and Dec 2025 but delivered only 18 of those units on time. The other remaining units (298 of them), to this day, still lag and have been delayed anywhere from 1 to 2 years in delivery. They also charged NHC a $30 million EXTRA for those builds in February 2025 when they had only at that point delivered 18 units and were already at contractual “schedule default”. So, what did NHC do with that outlandish demand? They PAID IT! ALL OF IT!
The Sole Source Contract for the 2000 units also included beyond the 1400 public housing units, stipulations that NCCD/NCC3000 would build over the life of the agreement (2022-2030) 600 affordable homes at THEIR cost to then be sold or rented to Nunavummiut at affordable prices. If you are wondering what ever happened to those 600 affordable homes NCCD/NCC300 was contractually required to build. Well, they have built a grand total of ZERO!
So what is the status now of the 1400 remaining Public Housing units and the 600 affordable housing units NCCD/NCC3000 was to build? No one seems to want to say. The Current government pretends like the agreement never existed. The Housing Minister deflects when questions come up. And all the while Mr. Flaherty acts like he is one of the housing saviors of Nunavut.
How is it that the President and CEO of that complete and utter disaster be, a) Invited int he first place, b) have the audacity to sit up on a stage and tell people anything about housing or how to address and solve the ongoing challenge. It is absolutely mind boggling the lack of self awareness and the lack of respect for Nunavummiut. That however is where we are now.
As Mr. Pederson talked about the out-of-control need for public housing. That man, Mr. Flaherty, the one who has completely and utterly failed Nunavummiut, sits beside him pretending to speak from a position of authority and knowledge on housing. Only in Nunavut does this pass for normal or acceptable. Let all that sink in for a moment. Credibility in the whole housing process in Nunavut has lost any remaining credibility by allowing this man to be anywhere near the discussion on housing.
The housing challenge in Nunavut is massive (that is not an overstatement). It’s impact on Nunavummiut in unimaginable. It affects every aspect and corner of Nunavummiut’s lives. To have been obliged to watch the last 4 years since 2022 and the Nunavut 3000 disaster is disturbing. To have been fed misinformation, gaslighted, provide half truths, and distortions is even more disturbing. Meanwhile the politicians that are supposed to represent them continue to deny, deflect and continue trying to cover up the failures and that is absolutely unacceptable.
Yes indeed, watching a man who has not been held to account and permitted to sit there on that stage and act like an authority on the matter and talk about the housing challenges was an affront to all Nunavummiut.
PSC
In free and democratic societies, it is often a source of great humor to hear of the outlandish claims and aspirations of dictators and would be dictators.
Trump says he will accomplish impossible stuff all the time. Putin thinks he is actually winning his war. It goes on and on.
At least part of this phenomenon is that authoritative leaders and regimes surround themselves with Yes Men; people that are completely agreeable to the leadership and will mirror exactly what they say regardless if that is achievable or reflects reality.
In the case of Nunavut, we also have an echo chamber of Yes Men in Iqaluit. When an elected leader with almost no project or financial management says he wants to announce a quadrupling of new housing construction, when NHC struggles to build only 100 new units a year, calmer heads should have prevailed before word of that hit the streets.
Nunavut3000 was unrealistic. NHC should never have said they could do it. NHC should never have handed off a big chunk of the responsibility for this to NCC. NCC should never have accepted the burden.
But no, when a Nunavut Premier and cabinet make up their minds that it should be done, nobody has the guts in our capital to tell them they are not wearing any clothes.
If there ever was an example for the need for party politics in Nunavut, it would be this. Someone in Opposition should have been questioning the audacity of this right from the beginning.
Biggest thing Nunavut politicians need to learn is the ability to say no.
As you say, they try to have their cake and eat it too every time. But it’s not possible. Actual “hard decisions” would be cancelling projects that aren’t worth it and saying no to new ideas.
They want to grow at the same time they want to protect the land, educate, develop the economy, build homes, revitalize language etc etc… the reality is it can’t all happen together. But there’s a lot of allure for the elite class who meet with Ottawa and push projects ahead. Bureaucrats don’t say no – they want big projects on their resume. Politicians have to become stronger, and they have to be realistic with the problems.
The reality is at the core of so many issues in Nunavut, social and economic, is the birth rate. Little changes without addressing that.
And now we have Arctic Fresh handed the task to finish this mess, good luck