Teachers blast Yukon's new 'tone-deaf' staff housing policy

The Yukon Teachers' Association (YTA) says changes to the territorial government's staff housing policy will make it harder to attract and keep teachers in rural communities.

The government recently made changes to the policy, including increases in rent and a new three-year cap on how long someone can stay in a staff housing unit.

According to a statement from YTA, that three-year limit is a bad idea and the new housing policy is "tone-deaf."

"Now, a teacher coming new into a community is going to be faced with a decision right away — they have to decide, am I going to stay here in this community? I only have this house for three years," said YTA president Sue Harding.

Harding said the YTA met with government officials last fall and winter to discuss the new housing policy. She thought there was going to be more discussion.

"But that didn't actually happen," she said. "They just rolled out their big plan." 

When the new policy was announced in May, Pauline Frost, the territory's housing minister, said in a statement it was meant to "ensure that government owned housing is not in competition with private rental housing."

But Harding says many communities simply don't have any private rental housing available. She also says homes are rarely for sale, and it's unrealistic to imagine young teachers building their own homes.

"I don't think that three years is long enough for people to get their feet under them, especially if you're a brand new teacher. You might have a lot of student loans to pay off, and building a house is a big financial commitment."

Teachers are in demand across Canada, Harding says, and staff housing can be a big incentive. 

"People have other choices of where they can go and work. And if you know that you're only going to have a house in a Yukon community for three years, you might choose to go work in northern B.C.," she says.

"Or, you'll simply come as a step in between, to sort of pay off your student loans for those three years and then get some experience, and move down to a bigger area."