Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug 31/01) - Town officials are contacting various groups to determine how much demand there is for housing right now.

Mayor Peter Clarkson said the town offered to do this during a meeting last week on the issue, which was attended by some landlords and others, including representatives of contractors, the NWT Housing Corp., and the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Board.

Recently the health board publicly raised concerns that a shortage of housing and high rents in town is causing them staffing problems.

"Nobody had any answers other than everybody's waiting to see whether this is sustainable or, you know, a blip on the boom," Clarkson said of the meeting.

"We're going to call most of the government departments, the larger businesses, and just find out how many of their employees are currently looking for housing, if they have an indication."

The mayor said that, by conducting this unofficial survey, within a few weeks the town should get a better idea of how many new units need to come online to ease the situation.

Clarkson said 85 new housing units were to be ready in town early in the new year, but that the number is down to about 73, since a proposed 12-unit apartment building isn't going to be done this year.

Roger Allen, minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, said last week he is aware of the housing issue in Inuvik, and that he is waiting to see what suggestions those involved might have on how to deal with the issue.

Allen said the housing corporation might look into helping developers by providing loan guarantees or by assisting them in acquiring equity financing.

Allen said that even if this comes about, his preference would be for developers to go to banks first.

BDEC concerns

Meanwhile, director James Anderson said last Friday the Beaufort Delta Education Council has "serious concerns" about the housing situation in Inuvik and throughout the region.

Anderson said housing wasn't an issue in Inuvik last year, but it is now.

"We have some teachers in hotels right now," Anderson said.

He explained that, under the collective agreement, school boards provide accommodations for new teachers up to a maximum of three weeks if their accommodations aren't ready, or if they're having trouble finding a place.

"It's tight," Anderson said. "It's not just availability, but the cost of housing."

He pointed out that housing is an ongoing problem for the board in other communities. A situation was just resolved in Paulatuk, for instance.

Anderson said the situation is likely to get worse across the region because of a four-year, sliding scale program implemented by the Department of Education, which reduces the student-teacher ratio.

"We're going to have more teacher positions every year for four years, and we're into year two of that now," Anderson said.

"So with additional teacher positions and a finite number of housing units, I predict it's only going to give us cause for more concern."

Anderson said that, legally, the board could acquire the responsibility necessary to get into housing for its staff. He said that's not an option being looked at by BDEC, but that he's not ruling it out.