Thank you. Minister of Housing NWT.
Debates of Oct. 21st, 2025
This is page numbers of the Hansard for the 20th Assembly, 1st Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.
Topics
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think Housing NWT over the last year has been discussing how do we work in collaboration with the different departments to be successful knowing that our technical and infrastructure team's in place to deliver housing across the Northwest Territories. But the concern from the Member is a concern for many of us, is the overall capacity of the Northwest Territories to take on many of these large infrastructure projects. President Erin Kelly can provide you more insight to some of the collaboration and partnerships we're working together on. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Madam Chair. Housing NWT is pleased to let folks know that we project fully committing the allocated new construction component valued at $120 million over the next three years by the end of the fiscal year 2025-2026. We've heard very clearly that we need to spend the money that has been provided and that -- and we see the need in communities for the housing.
We anticipate a total spend of $43 million in 2025-2026. Housing NWT has proposed to CMHC to use the $7 million that we realized as a savings from an economy of scale over the recent large bundled procurement for modular units to leverage $19.2 million to add another 20 units in Inuvik to the Blueberry Patch. This would result in public housing clients at Bompass Apartments moving to Housing NWT-owned assets and owned units which would increase the availability of rental units in Inuvik.
If we are not successful in that application to CMHC, we will add to the number of modular public housing units and/or the number of planned repair projects and/or potentially acquire and retrofit existing multi-unit buildings. So we have plans for that funding, and that's the total $50 million. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chair. And thanks to my colleague who asked some of the questions I was going to ask as well, but this is a great conversation.
To follow up there, in the previous exchange the president noted that we have an infrastructure deficit of still about $257 million, and there was discussion about how this ongoing infrastructure deficit means that we might be losing units because we're not able to address the deficit. Does the Minister or staff have any idea how many units we might be losing each year because we're not able to repair them or replace them? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. Our current projection for this fiscal year is -- the infrastructure deficit is $307 million, which is basically $299 million is for replacement need. That's our current need for replacement of units. And retrofits is $8,226,000. Over the next 20 years, housing has done an appendix which projects the deficit replacement need is $1.2 billion over the next 20 years. And for retrofits, $339 million over the next 20 years. So we're looking at things in a 20-year time span so we can do proper planning and technical work. But can I ask President Erin Kelly just to provide more information to the Member's question. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Madam Chair. So what we're doing at this time is looking at the units that we have available and focusing our funding to replace the units that are 50 years or older, the older units and those that have unit condition ratings that are lowest. So we're trying to avoid the issue that the Member is bringing forward and also increasing our M and I, which is, like, larger renovation so we can keep our units available in communities, the same number of units available. And we've been pretty successful at that. So I think we're working to try to address the issue that the Member is bringing forward with the additional funding that we have. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Okay, thank you, Madam Chair. Can the Minister tell us whether -- was there any carryover from the 2025-2026 revised capital estimates in that was there any money that wasn't able to be spent? And can the Minister account for that and what is to be done with that money in the coming year? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. President Erin Kelly will provide you information to that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. President Kelly.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Madam Chair. It's important to remember that we received the money from the federal government for the 50-plex that's being built in advance. So there's been consistent carryover until that project's done, and it's not expected to be done until May of 2027. So last year we had a carryover of $65,877,000, and about $46 million of that was the 50-plex. There was also some carryover related to Aspen Apartments and the work that's being completed on that, and we're hopeful that we'll be able to have people in there in November. And then public -- some public housing replacement projects were also carried over and some other minor pieces, but the main item there was the 50-plex. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Great. Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I return to that, if I have time, can the Minister just tell us so we're all clear -- so there's two projects for Yellowknife that are on the project list, one for 2027-2028 and one for 2026-2027, a public housing replacement of 24 units and a major retrofit of 12 units. Can the Minister give us details of what exactly are those projects. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. Minister of Housing NWT.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. Coming in as Minister for Housing NWT, I wanted to see, like, condition of units, especially in community and the city of Yellowknife considering the need to replace many of our housing units, the older units, and Hilltop was something that I visited, and it's in an extreme circumstance. So in the planning -- and President Erin Kelly will provide some more information to that, but the planning for Yellowknife over the next couple of years is to replace Hilltop. So if I can just defer this to President Erin Kelly. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. President Kelly.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Madam Chair. So we have a proposal in with CMHC right now, two at Rockhill, have a multi-use build where there would be transitional housing, Hilltop replacement, and a daycare in that area. And we're getting near to the end of those negotiations. The other 12 that the Member is speaking about are M and I projects, so those would be housing -- existing housing units getting major retrofits. The way that the decision was made about those is we looked at mid life, 21 to 30 years, and made decisions on need based on the -- those that required major retrofits in that age range to try to increase the life of those assets. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chair. And just to be clear, the retrofits of existing units, is that 12 units spread across different areas of town, or are those 12 units all together in a certain location? Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. Minister of Housing NWT.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. Those units are spread across the city. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chair. So I am excited to hear about the replacement of Hilltop, which is within Yellowknife North riding, and so I do hope that the Minister will keep me updated as much as possible because I am very interested in being involved as this project rolls out. Thank you, Madam Chair.
CHAIRPERSON (Mrs. Yakeleya) Thank you. Minister of Housing NWT.
Committee Motion 82-20(1): Concurrence Motion - Tabled Document 385-20(1): 2026-2027 Capital Estimates - Legislative Assembly - Conclusion of Legislative Assembly
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 21st
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Madam Chair. Absolutely, we can keep the Member for Yellowknife North updated. I'm excited as well to see that replacement. Thank you, Madam Chair.