First, congratulations on your election and appointment as Minister. Housing in Nunavut is one of the most challenging files in government, and also one of the most important.
There has been a lot of discussion recently about housing, including concerns raised by others on Facebook over the last couple of weeks. I’m not trying to take away from those perspectives. If anything, I think they highlight the need for clearer information. I want to build on that by asking some direct questions about how the system is working.
I’ve spent time looking at housing across the territory, and more specifically in Iqaluit. While I was Mayor, we established the Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable Housing, which examined not just public housing but the entire housing system. https://iqaluit.ca/news/news-release-affordable-housing-task-force
That includes staff housing, which is a significant part of how the Government operates in Nunavut. We all understand that staff housing plays an important role in recruiting and retaining workers in Nunavut. That is not in question.
We also know there are more than 1,700 staff housing units across the territory, and we know the cost runs into the tens of millions each year. But beyond that, there is very little publicly available detail that I can find.
In 2022, the Government of Nunavut had approximately 5,384 funded positions, with only about 65 percent filled, roughly 3,500 employees. At that level, 1,700 staff housing units represent housing for nearly half of all filled positions.
If that same ratio were applied to a fully staffed government, it would suggest a need for more than 2,600 staff housing units.
That raises an important question about how these units are being used today.
That is where I believe there is an opportunity.
Nunavummiut deserve a clearer understanding of how this part of the system works.
It is also important to recognize that staff housing, like much of Nunavut’s housing system, is not always a precise fit. Ongoing shortages mean both junior and senior employees can be overhoused or underhoused, often for extended periods. In reality, allocation is driven more by availability and operational need than by exact household match.
Against that backdrop:
How many staff housing units have utilities fully covered? How many are partially covered, and how many are not?
How many staff units are under or over housed?
What is the actual average cost per unit once utilities are included, broken down between fully covered, partially covered, and not covered units?
Who is living in these units?
Are they primarily being used for recruitment of nurses, teachers, critical roles or are they being used across all levels of government employment?
Do senior positions, Directors, Assistant Deputy Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Crown Corporation Presidents, receive subsidized housing, and are utilities included in those arrangements?
If so, what is the total annual value of that support? are any of these senior positions over or under house? And how does this compare to what we are investing in public housing and the homeownership programs?
These are not criticisms. They are reasonable questions about a system that represents a significant public investment and transparency matters most at a time when a significant number of Nunavummiut are living in overcrowded and/or deteriorating housing, it is important that all parts of the system are clearly understood and openly discussed.
As a new Minister, you have an opportunity to bring greater clarity to this issue and help build confidence in how housing resources are being used across the territory.
I hope you will consider making this information publicly available.
Thank you for your time. We are rooting for you and the Nunavut Housing Corporation to be very successful moving forward!
Kenny Bell
Longtime resident of Iqaluit, Nunavut
Leave a Reply