1,200 Nunavut residents waiting for public housing: auditor general

Nunavut residents with the most need of public housing aren't always the ones getting it, because local housing authorities aren't always following proper procedures, federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser says in a new report.

In an report tabled Thursday in the Nunavut legislature, Fraser said poor planning for the construction of new housing units has also left many Nunavummiut on waiting lists for housing.

The audit looked at how the Nunavut Housing Corp. — specifically its Public Housing Program —manages the more than 4,000 units it has in the territory's 25 mostly remote communities.

Public housing accounts for more than half of all dwellings in Nunavut, according to the report.

Fraser said the corporation is not sufficently monitoring its "community partners," which include local housing associations, the housing authority in Iqaluit and some hamlet offices, to ensure that they properly deliver the Public Housing Program at the local level.

The lack of monitoring by the housing corporation means some public housing units were not fairly allocated to tenants, leaving some who need it most still waiting for housing, she said.

More than 1,200 Nunavummiut were on the public housing waiting lists in 2007, according to Fraser's report.

"Our own review of community partners' files found that they do not fully comply with the corporation's policies in assessing applications for housing, allocating public housing units, and rating the condition of units," Fraser's report stated in part.

'Not meeting its obligation'

"Furthermore, the corporation is not meeting its obligation to regularly assess the operations of its community partners, although this is a key monitoring activity required under its agreements with them."

The auditor general's report also found that the housing corporation was not fully prepared to carry out the Nunavut Housing Trust Delivery Strategy, which aims to build 725 new public housing units across the territory by 2010, using $200 million in federal funding.

The corporation had planned to build 96 public housing units under the strategy in 2007, but only 20 were completed, Frasesr said.

"The delivery strategy did not plan for known risks, such as lack of interest in construction work among contractors and poor attendance of workers on some construction sites," the report read.

"As a result, the construction schedule for the first year suffered delays, and the education and training objectives of the strategy as well as its objective of building 725 public housing units by 2010 might not be met."

The need for new housing units is clear: Fraser quoted census statistics from 2006, which show that 18 per cent of Nunavut's dwellings have more than one person per room — a "strong indicator of overcrowding," she said.

"Inadequate and overcrowded housing can contribute to social problems, such as domestic violence, and health problems such as respiratory diseases," the report stated.

"Providing more homes and improving the condition of existing homes are crucial steps in beginning to address social problems faced by children and families."

The report noted that the housing corporation agrees with her findings and recommendations for improvement.

Fraser is scheduled to appear next month in Iqaluit, where she will discuss her report with the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Accountability.