Public housing waitlist grew by one applicant per day in 2025, says Igluvut manager
Business leaders discussed building infrastructure Tuesday morning, during the Nunavut Trade Show
Aaron Pederson, project manager of housing and homelessness with Igluvut Corp., speaks on an infrastructure panel during the Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit on Tuesday. (Photo by Daron Letts)
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 Pederson, project manager of housing and homelessness with Igluvut Corp., Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s housing non-profit.
“That’s one more family every single day,” he said.
That is one of several sobering statistics Pederson 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 advisor 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 1/3 the length of the entire housing stock,” Pederson said.
Of the new homes being built, close to 95 per cent are public housing.
“Nationally, it’s six percent,” he said.
Of the 61 per cent of Nunavummiut who live in public housing, 45 per cent live in overcrowded dwellings, he added.
Pederson suggested that those in charge of industrial projects “can’t staff positions from an overcrowded home.”
Igluvut, whose operations launched 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,” Pederson 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, Pederson said, adding that NTI is working on a proposal for 400 more.
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.