Iqaluit (May 17/04) - For nine years, Clyde River resident Nick Illauq has been waiting to get into public housing. He doesn't expect to have a place of his own any time soon.

"I will probably be waiting for another five years," he said. "I'm tired of waiting."

Crowded house in Nunavut 54 per cent of Inuit live in overcrowded conditions. Nunavut has a rate of 3.84 individuals per dwelling. Canadian average is 2.65 per dwelling. 15 per cent of Nunavut's population are on waiting lists for public housing. There are 4,000 public housing units in Nunavut. About half the units are more than 25 years old. The Nunavut Housing Corporation estimates 250 units are needed every year to keep up with the demand. Close to 14,000 Nunavummiut live in public housing. The five communities with the worst overcrowding are Clyde River, Hall Beach, Repulse Bay, Arviat and Kugaaruk.

Illauq lives with his mother, one of eight people who share his mother's house.

"Some people have to share bedrooms. There's just not enough room for everybody. It's not a good situation."

One problem Illauq faces is that although he's at the top of the list he's not a priority.

"Families are a priority for public housing. People are just having kids to get into housing," he said.

Illauq said the housing shortage is forcing people to move away from the North and that's only if they can afford the high costs.

"There aren't any jobs here but I can't go anywhere," he said. "We're stuck in this situation.

According to Nunavut Housing Corporation's latest figures, 3,000 additional units are needed just to meet the current demand. In 2003-2004, the corporation budgeted for 46 new homes.

"This won't even meet future expansions. That's just to deal with the need we have right now," said Peter Scott, president of housing corporation.

Scott said the only way they are going to get that funding is if the federal government injects some much needed cash into the system.

"The message here is that there's a problem and Nunavut doesn't have the resources to deal with it," he said.

The housing corporation and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. are working on a 10-year housing plan they hope to have ready to present to the federal government in about six weeks.

NTI President Paul Kaludjak raised the housing issue with the federal committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development on April 20.

"We advised the federal government of the conditions Inuit were living in, in the North," he said.

"They couldn't comprehend that this problem was actually this bad," he said. "I think we got a lot of attention from the committee."

Of $340 million the federal government distributed for social housing last year, Nunavut received $290,000.

"Up here that would pay for one house," said Kowesa Ettiq, policy analyst for NTI.