NUNAVUT
The federal and territorial governments have agreed to spend $3 million per year for five years by extending the national Investment in Affordable Housing Agreement for 2014 to 2019.

Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, minister of the Environment and Canadian Economic Development Agency, and George Kuksuk, minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, answer questions about the housing deal they just signed. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo New units by communities The Nov. 10 announcement means there will be 258 new public housing units built in 14 communities. Iqaluit: 33 Repulse Bay: 20 Arviat: 45 Clyde River: 20 Coral Harbor: 10 Kugluktuk: 20 Baker Lake: 30 Rankin Inlet: 20 Whale Cove: 5 Taloyoak: 10 Cambridge Bay: 10 Iglulik : 5 Pond Inlet: 15 Kugaaruk:15

George Kuksuk, the minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corporation, and Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq officially signed the almost $15-million deal in the legislative assembly Nov. 10.

"We see the extension of the IAH agreement, which represents $1.45 million per year for five years from both parties, as an opportunity to continue working with our federal partners towards a long-term housing solution," said Kuksuk.

With Nunavut's matching funds, that amounts to $3 million annually dedicated to housing in the territory. The announcement also involves phase two of the supplementary $100 million pledged in 2013, which is unique to Nunavut.

"The $100 million in supplementary funding is a welcome sign that our persistent efforts to demonstrate Nunavut's unique needs to the federal government are being recognized," said Kuksuk.

So far, in phase one, Nunavut received $30 million of the supplementary funding, with the remaining $70 million now on the way.

The first installment of supplementary funding has been used to award contracts, which are at different stages, for 213 new public housing units in 12 communities, said Nunavut Housing Corporation president Lori Kimball. The material, in most cases, has arrived in communities and the general completion date is December 2015.

$10 million was saved in that process, and with the addition of another $10 million in the 2015-2016 territorial budget, Pond Inlet, Kugaaruk and Arviat will each receive three five-plexes for a total of 45 extra units. Those tender documents are being drafted now.

But the overall housing crisis is no closer to being solved.

"With the population growth, we'd have to build 90 units a year to keep the problem from getting worse, and we have a back-log of about 3,000 units," said Kimball.

To give a sense of the enormity of the problem, Kimball notes that $3 million covers just a bit more than the cost of a five-plex, at approximately $420,000 per individual unit in the complex. Comparisons were made to Quebec - for every unit built in Nunavik, four can be built in Montreal.

The Government of Nunavut could use about $1 billion to eradicate the housing problem.

To calculate a community's need and prioritize which gets new units, when every single community is in dire need, a wait list or needs list is compared to the number of public units in that community. The result is a needs list as a "percentage of stock."

"For instance, here in Iqaluit back in January 2013, we had 267 people with need and 496 housing units. So we needed a growth of 54 per cent more housing stock to address the needs list. If you look at Whale Cove and Sanikiluaq, they both have the same number of people on their needs list, but when you do it as a percentage of stock, clearly Whale Cove has a greater percentage of need than Sanikiluaq," said Kimball.

"That then produces the priority ranking list."

Kimball adds that arrears - owed money means a person can't go on the wait list - no longer plays a part in the needs calculation. All demand is now tracked to get a full scope of the need.

"That actually changed the order of the priority list, which is how we calculated the new 45 units."

Kimball said the housing corporation continues to improve its needs information and to develop longer term planning, including taking into account infrastructure planning - water trucks, power poles, power plants, land availability, roads, etc.

"So when we do get money, we're able to go."

The GN is committed to the problem, growing their contribution to $20 million per year from $10 million over the next five years.

"Hopefully that's going to present the case to the federal government that Nunavut is doing its part and we need continued, long-term sustainable funding. This stop/start makes it difficult to ramp up. If we can get predictable, sustainable funding over a period of time rather than big infusions of cash sporadically, it helps us plan better, helps us try some new and innovative things, helps us keep the cost down, helps us do the most we can out of the money we get," said Kimball.

She added that the degree of dependence on social housing is also an issue.

"When you look at the average income of our social housing clients, out of almost 20,000 tenants we have 144 that made over $100,000 a year. Which means only 144 could potentially be homeowners. When you look at your cost of home ownership in Nunavut, if you're under that, you can't afford it. That's the reality. So out of our 20,000 tenants - it's not a case where we'll be transitioning people into home ownership."

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