Nunavut Housing Corp. to build fewer homes this year

New numbers from the Nunavut Housing Corporation show that fewer homes are being built this year, while thousands of people in the territory are on waiting lists for public housing.

The territory's public housing agency says it is set to build 95 units over the next 12 months, according to updated numbers it provided to CBC News on Wednesday.

That's down from the housing corporation's previous estimate of 120 units, and well below the 3,000-plus units that NHC president Terry Audla recently said is needed to meet current demand based on National Occupancy Standards.

On Wednesday, the housing corporation says based on its annual budgets, it projects it can build around 83 houses a year, but that number will fluctuate from year to year based on a number of factors.

Meanwhile, the corporation says a total of 4,923 individuals — or about 2,500 families — across Nunavut are currently on wait lists for public housing.

Sharing a home with 11 others

Amanda Salluviniq is among those waiting for a home. The 22-year-old in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, says she and her three young children live in a four-bedroom house with as many as 11 other people.

"It's hard living with so many people in a house where it's crowded," she said. "My kids got sick pretty much a lot."

Waiting lists are controlled by local housing offices (LHOs) in each community. The offices also decide who will get housing.

Salluviniq said she is fed up with her LHO because she's been on the waiting list for three years. She said she doesn't understand why she keeps getting passed over for a housing unit.

Patterk Netser, the minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, says that as a result of concerns he's heard, he's is looking into how housing units are allocated in communities.

"We're negotiating with the LHOs at the moment for a new MOU [memorandum of understanding] agreement, and that will be one of the issues that we'll be facing, or tackling," he said.

Netser said he expects to update policies for local housing offices by the end of the year.

'Disappointing' federal budget

However, with no new money for housing set aside in the latest federal budget, Netser said the territory's housing problems will only get worse.

The 2019 budget lays out $286.2 million over five years for Inuit-specific programs, including an Inuit-led post-secondary education strategy and health and social services for children. It does not include new funding for housing in Nunavut.

In late 2017, the federal government earmarked $240 million over 10 years for housing in Nunavut as part of its national housing strategy. Audla has said that money would fund the construction of about 48 new housing units each year.

Netser said he had hoped to see more money announced for housing when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to Iqaluit to apologize for the federal government's historical mistreatment of Inuit tuberculosis patients.

"I had really high hopes ... he came up here to do the apology, and when nothing was announced it was really disappointing. And that's where we are right now," said Netser.

"We're very disappointed in the recent federal budget, which didn't give us much."

Netser said he has instructed the housing corporation to pursue other funding options, including partnerships in the private market and a territory-wide home ownership program.