Affordable housing is a term thrown around in policy circles, but how often does the reality align with the promise?
In the Northwest Territories, this disconnect is glaring. The NWT Housing Corporation (NWTHC) has long been tasked with addressing the housing crisis, but how much progress has actually been made?
In this post, we’re tossing housing commitments into The Scrub to rinse off the spin and expose the raw truth: what’s been done, what hasn’t, and what needs urgent attention.
Rockhill Apartment fire – Janis O’Keefe photo/2018
Housing Commitments Over the Years
The NWTHC has introduced numerous initiatives aimed at tackling the housing crisis:
- New Mandate and Vision (2022): A revised mission promises equitable access to quality housing for those most in need, focusing on well-being and community-centered solutions.
- Housing NWT Action Plan (2022–2025): This $46.7-million plan, jointly funded by NWTHC and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), pledged to assist 1,530 households through maintenance, repairs, new builds, and support programs.
- Canada-NWT Housing Benefit: Aimed at easing rent burdens for residents spending over 30% of their income on housing.
- Community Housing Plans: Collaboration with communities to develop housing solutions that align with local needs and values.
These initiatives sound promising on paper, but the numbers tell a different story.
A History of Decline
Despite these commitments, housing conditions in the NWT have worsened:
- Housing Problems:
- 2009: 31% of households faced core housing need (affordability, adequacy, or suitability).
- 2014: Improvement to 20%.
- 2019: A shocking reversal, with 42% of households facing at least one major issue.
- Affordability Challenges:
- 2011 Census: 26% of households spent over 30% of income on housing.
- 2021 Census: This rose to 36%.
- Inadequate Infrastructure: Aging homes, overcrowding, and inadequate facilities remain persistent, especially in remote communities.
Between 2005 and 2015, modest progress was made. However, since then, the GNWT and NWTHC have allowed these issues to spiral, despite having over a decade of data flagging urgent repairs and replacements. Losses like the 2018 Rockhill apartment fire further strained an already fragile housing system, with little done to rebuild or replace what was lost.
Structural, Financial, and Logistical Challenges
The NWTHC faces numerous barriers in meeting its goals:
- Structural Challenges:
- Decentralized operations across 33 communities complicate uniform solutions.
- Aging infrastructure demands extensive renovations or outright replacement.
- Financial Challenges:
- Rising revenues, from $141.1 million in 2021/22 to $160.3 million in 2022/23, are eclipsed by escalating expenses, with costs reaching $125 million in 2022/23.
- Inflation and high costs of labour and materials in remote areas stretch budgets thin.
- Logistical Challenges:
- Transporting materials and workers to isolated communities causes costly delays.
- A shortage of skilled labour in the NWT hampers project timelines.
Despite increased funding, these obstacles limit the impact of housing programs.
What Needs to Change
It’s not enough to acknowledge the crisis. The GNWT and NWTHC must deliver on long-standing promises and address the chronic issues that have left so many residents without adequate housing.
Steps Toward Meaningful Progress:
- Rebuild and Replace: Address housing losses like those from the Rockhill apartment fire and prioritize replacing dilapidated units with safe, functional homes.
- Community-Specific Action Plans: Recognize the unique challenges of smaller and remote communities, tailoring investments to their specific needs.
- Transparency and Accountability: Ensure clear, public updates on funding allocations and project timelines.
- Target Repairs and Maintenance: Commit to urgent repairs on aging infrastructure to prevent further decline.
- Labour and Training Investments: Build local capacity by investing in training programs to grow a skilled labour force within the territory.
The relationship between the GNWT, NWT Housing Corporation, and Northern Property REIT (NPR) highlights significant concerns about accountability and the management of public housing in the Northwest Territories. Northern Property REIT, a southern-based corporation, has been involved in the management of several apartment buildings in the NWT, including those in Yellowknife. However, when incidents like the Rockhill apartment fire occur, which resulted in the destruction of several units, NPR has faced little to no consequence for failing to repair or replace the lost units.
Despite the GNWT’s agreement with NPR, which includes subsidies and other incentives aimed at addressing the territory’s housing shortage, there is a glaring lack of accountability when it comes to maintaining or rebuilding properties following such losses. These properties often remain neglected, contributing to the worsening housing crisis. When a southern company is given such significant influence over NWT housing without local accountability, it leads to situations where NWT residents are left without secure housing, and the government seems to lack the will or resources to enforce corrective actions.
The agreement between NPR and the GNWT has faced scrutiny for how it allows companies to profit from public housing funds while failing to deliver on the promises of replacement and upkeep. These structural failures compound the already strained efforts of the NWT Housing Corporation to provide adequate housing in a region where high construction costs and a limited workforce make housing solutions particularly challenging. It’s crucial that any agreements with private entities be closely scrutinized, with clear stipulations for accountability to avoid further exacerbating the housing crisis.
The Bottom Line
The GNWT and NWTHC have known for years – well over a decade, in fact – that the housing system in the NWT is failing its residents. Aging buildings, affordability challenges, and inadequate living conditions have been well-documented, yet action has lagged far behind.
Despite the government’s stated commitment to improving housing, the budget allocation for housing in the territory remains minimal compared to the scale of the need. In 2022, only 3.6% of the total government budget was dedicated to housing, a decrease from 5.7% in 2000. Additionally, there have been issues with under-utilized funds, such as the $60 million in federal funding set aside for housing in 2019 that went unspent.
The territory doesn’t need more lofty promises; it needs decisive action to replace spin with solutions. Until that happens, affordable housing will remain a myth for far too many in the Northwest Territories.