Housing crisis squeezing people out of communities, warn Labrador advocates
Nunatsiavut government says they need more construction
Confronted with the collision of rising housing prices, high demand, and a lack of affordable options, Labrador housing advocates are calling for more support to keep people in their communities.
Noreen Careen, chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and Homelessness Network, said there is "hidden homelessness" in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.
"People think, well, you live in a small rural area in Newfoundland, you know, you're sure to be taken care of, you're sure to have a place to live — which is definitely not the picture where you're far away from resources," she told CBC Radio's The Signal.
"Labrador West is a whole other kettle of fish.… We have a zero vacancy rate in Labrador West."
Careen says seniors have been evicted from where they were living because the booming industry in the region has resulted in them being priced out of the housing market by people who can pay more.
"If I am a contractor and I can pay $2,000 for my worker's apartment, well then, we know what happens to those who cannot pay," she said.
The high prices aren't just pushing out seniors, but also single people and those living on low income, Careen said.
Despite that, she said, there have been some recent improvements to housing availability, pointing to the construction that recently wrapped on a three-bedroom emergency shelter unit and the ongoing work on a separate seven-bedroom unit.
"That has been wonderful news," she said.
In addition, Careen said, the Labrador West Housing and Homelessness Coalition has a 10-unit apartment building.
But she's worried many people there will still end up moving around the province to find housing.
"We will put them on a flight, they'll go to St. John's. They want to go to more urban areas. They feel there's more resources. There's more opportunity," she said.
"We just keep moving the problem somewhere else."
Not affordable
Krystal Saunders, housing support services manager with the Nunatsiavut government, said the housing shortage is a problem that's gone unaddressed.
"I think the reality's been the same for a few years now. The federal housing advocate called the housing in Nunatsiavut 'abominable' when she was there in 2022. And I don't think a whole lot has changed since then," Saunders said.
The community is still dealing with severe overcrowding and homes ending up in a "deplorable" state, which, she said, creates social challenges.
"We're seeing, always, increases in domestic violence and more interactions with CSSD or children being removed from the home," said Saunders.
As a result, Indigenous people move to urban centres like Happy Valley-Goose Bay to try to find housing, but Saunders said the housing market is also expensive in those areas.
"That's just not affordable for folks. So we've seen huge wait lists for our affordable housing," she said.
More people are turning to emergency shelters to get a roof over their heads, she said. The Nunatsiavut government has an emergency shelter in Happy Valley-Goose Bay that's over capacity, and the Labrador Inn, which is used for overflow, is also overwhelmed.
"We have seen some new units go up in our community in the last few months and we're starting to see folks move in. So that's been really, really exciting after years and years of very little, if any, movement," said Saunders.
She also wants housing options built where people are already living.
"Create those housing options in land claims because people shouldn't have to leave their home communities in order to access housing," said Saunders.
However, Saunders said, when the Nunatsiavut government applies for housing grants, they are competing against groups across the country.
"We do get turned down sometimes. And the other challenge is finding the contractors and getting the supplies, I think, into the communities to get the houses up in a timely manner," she said.
Solving the housing crisis goes beyond just having the available money, Saunders said. They need the right people in place, and Indigenous people need to be heard when it comes to developing solutions.
"I think the best leader of that, to make that happen, would be the Indigenous communities themselves. They're excellent advocates. They know how things work on the north coast. They know how to make safe and affordable housing," she said.
End Homelessness St. John's executive director Doug Pawson said he wants to see all three levels of government working together to form a plan to get more houses built.
"Ultimately, we just need to end the jurisdictional game of tag that continues to happen and we need to be aligned and we need to think of housing as as a non-partisan, apolitical issue," he said.
However, he said, there are problems with relying on the private market to build houses.
"We're just creating a widening gap between what people can afford and what people can't," said Pawson.
Careen said in the last two years, her organization has unsuccessfully applied for federal funds for three proposed housing units.
"Every time that we submit the proposals, it comes back and saying, 'Number one, to do business in Labrador is very costly.' Well, guess what? That's not going to change."
Careen said municipal governments should take on a leadership role by helping housing developers get started in towns.
"What is needed is more affordable housing. We just lack enough affordable housing. We just don't have it. It doesn't exist," said Careen.
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With files from The Signal