Nunavut loses 5 public housing units to fire in 3 weeks

The Nunavut Housing Corporation has lost five public housing units to fire in the last three weeks, which its president says is "devastating" for a territory in a housing crisis.

There's already a long wait list for public housing in Nunavut, due to a shortage of housing units. The fires in Rankin Inlet, Pangnirtung, and Pond Inlet have all resulted in families being displaced from their homes. 

The housing authority was not able to place any of the families in vacant units after the fires.

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"In the immediate, if they have friends and family they usually end up in those units, which compounds the overcrowding," said Terry Audla, president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation.

"We do try and accommodate for those who've been displaced by units that have burned down, but again communities are so stretched and limited in what they can offer."

When families lose their home to fire, Audla says they're usually put at the top of the waiting list, but he says that decision is up to the local housing authority, not the Nunavut Housing Corporation.

He said where people end up on the waiting list also depends on the results of RCMP investigations. If the family is not at fault for the fire, they're more likely to be put on the top of the list.

The Nunavut Housing Corporation will also conduct its own investigation to determine what will happen to the units; Audla believes one or two might be salvageable, but the others are probably not worth renovating.

He says the number of units needed in the territory has remained fairly stable for 10 years. The Nunavut Housing Corp. continues to add new units — roughly in step with the rate of population growth — but little has been done to tackle the territory's massive housing shortage overall. 

The housing corporation estimates that the waiting list for a unit is a few years long in some communities.

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