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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The NWT Housing Corporation plans a busy couple of years ahead, building and renovating public housing throughout the territory.

In January, the Federal Government earmarked $50 million over two years for social housing construction and renovation in the NWT.

"We were extremely pleased," said Jeff Anderson, president of the corporation. "They gave a real clear recognition to the North. Normally they do it on a per-capita basis. But, per-capita, if they do that, we don't get anything when you look at the rest of the country."

The GNWT will be matching the federal funds, and both this year and next year, bringing the total budget for the next two years to $110 million, said Anderson.

For 2009-2010, the housing corp. will build around 100 homes throughout the NWT to add to its current roster of 2,300 rent-subsidized public housing units, from which the housing corp. collects an average of $200 a month per unit.

In the past three years, the GNWT received $50 million in federal funds, under the Northern Housing Trust, with which it built 450 houses in 26 NWT communities.

With that construction completed, the housing corp. has issued a housing needs survey, due in June, measuring how the new construction has helped alleviate the housing shortage.

The last survey, done in 2004, showed about 17 per cent of households (or 2,300 families) in the territory are at core need, with the nationality standard standing at 12 per cent, according to Anderson.

This year's study will focus on three areas. The first is suitability - whether a home is overcrowded. The second area, adequacy, refers to the condition of the home.

Finally, the report will look at affordability.

"If you pay more than 30 per cent of your gross income toward modest shelter, then you're considered in core need," said Anderson.

If only 100 units are set for construction this year, it's because the GNWT has recognized a slowdown in demand for new housing, he added.

"Based on our latest information, the supply of housing is getting to the stage where it's just about ... where we don't need a lot of new supply," he said.

With that, the main focus over the next two years will be renovating existing social housing units in dire need of repair.

"What we need is to renovate what we've got, and that's public housing, which we own, and also home ownership clients," said Anderson.

"We have a lot of stock still from the 1970s. We try to get a 50-year life out of our units, so we do a major retrofit at year 20 and we do another one at year 35 to try to get a 50-year life."

Because renovations typically take more time and are more complex than building a house, there are going to be a lot of jobs available. The timing couldn't be better, according to Anderson.

Anderson said 385 jobs will be created over the next two years as a result of the social housing work.

In the past three years, NWT Housing Corp. projects 420 jobs to be created.

"One of the big things in this economic stimulus package was making sure people have employment," said Anderson.

"In the NWT, there has been some displacement from some of the other industries, like in exploration or diamonds. Those folks that go back to their home communities, we want to put them to work building housing."