By Nunatsiaq News
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. has created a housing corporation that will manage new housing builds and mark a “turning point” in the territory’s history, says president Jeremy Tunraluk.
“For the first time, Inuit are leading and financing housing in Nunavut under our own institutions,” he said Thursday during a virtual news conference at NTI’s annual general meeting in Rankin Inlet.
Igluvut Corp. is a not-for-profit entity that will be tasked with delivering and managing affordable housing built by NTI for employed Inuit in Nunavut.
The total budget for NTI’s housing protects is $655 million, with $56 million coming from NTI and the rest provided through various federal government sources.
“This is a reclaiming of rights, a step toward completing the vision our elders fought for when they created Nunavut,” Tunraluk said.
As a starting point, NTI plans to build 150 to 160 affordable housing units over five years.
They will be three-bedroom rental units spread across Nunavut, costing tenants approximately $1,800 per month. That amount is comparable to Nunavut Housing Corp.’s public housing monthly rent ceiling of $1,792, and lower than market-based rents which in some cases can reach $4,000, according to materials provided by NTI.
Unlike staff housing provided by the Nunavut government, NTI’s homes will not be tied to employment at the corporation — instead, they’ll be geared toward Inuit who are earning income regardless of where they work.
One of the first developments will be built by Qikiqtani Inuit Association, according to QIA’s annual report. It will include 21 three-bedroom, single-detached units in High Arctic communities of Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Clyde River and Grise Fiord and should be ready for tenants by fall 2026.
As well, out of NTI’s $135-million Inuit Housing Fund, $72 million will be allocated to supportive housing such as shelters and elders housing units. An example is the Iqaluit Elder Society’s $60-million apartment complex that received $8 million from the fund. Work on that project is to begin next year.
Tunraluk said the new Inuit-led housing corporation is not a “short-term fix.”
“It’s a blueprint for complete Inuit housing system,” he said, “built for Inuit, by Inuit.”
NTI also said in a news release that it will be partly responsible for implementing the federal government’s plan to build 700 homes in the territory through the new Build Canada Homes agency.
Initially, the plan was to be delivered only by Nunavut Housing Corp., the Nunavut government’s house-building agency. Now, it will proceed as a partnership between federal and territorial governments and NTI.
NTI’s new housing initiatives come as the Nunavut government is in the middle of its own plan to get 3,000 housing units constructed by 2030.
Nunavut 3000 was announced in October 2022, but in the three years since the announcement only 18 public housing units have been built, according to an auditor general’s report in May.
Correction: This story was updated to correct which Inuit association Patrick Tagoona is associated with.