Housing Northwest Territories (Housing NWT) is pleased to announce that tenants have started moving into the Nordic Arms apartment building in Yellowknife, with all tenants scheduled to move in by October 2023.

Housing NWT is taking meaningful steps to expand its portfolio of owned public housing units to increase the wellbeing of individuals and communities by providing fair access to quality housing supports for those who need it most.

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Mr. Speaker, as Housing Minister one of my main goals was to strengthen and develop partnerships and relationships. Now, as we come to the end of this Legislative Assembly, it is evident that partnerships have played a critical role in our success. One of our most important relationships is, of course, with the Government of Canada. We have a number of programs and new projects that would not be possible without this partnership.

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Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT has been very successful in building strong partnerships with Indigenous governments over the life of this government, because we have cultivated collaborative relationships with them. This is particularly important with the large amounts of distinctions-based funding that flows directly from the Government of Canada to NWT Indigenous governments for their housing priorities.

The below is being redistributed on behalf of The Government of The Northwest Territories and The Government of Canada.

https://www.canada.ca/en/office-infrastructure/news/2023/08/northwest-territories-organizations-receive-support-to-prevent-homelessness-in-indigenous-communities.html

The below is being redistributed on behalf of The Government of The Northwest Territories and The Government of Canada.

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/media-advisory-reaching-home-announcement-in-yellowknife-858205368.html

As part of Housing NWT’s Renewal Strategy, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and Indigenous governments have established an NWT Housing Forum to collaborate and share information on housing-related issues in the territory. The newly-established Forum held its first meeting on June 9, 2023, where the Yellowknives Dene First Nation was selected as the first Indigenous co-chair.

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Mr. Speaker, earlier this sitting I was very pleased to update this House on the establishment of the Northwest Territories Housing Forum. The NWT Housing Forum is just one of 42 program and policy changes that Housing NWT staff have been working tirelessly on in collaboration with partners from across the territory.

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Mr. Speaker, we know that no single government can effectively address housing issues in the Northwest Territories on their own, therefore in order to be successful, our government continues to build partnerships with Indigenous governments, community governments, private companies, the Government of Canada, and non-governmental organizations, or NGOs.

As part of Housing NWT’s Renewal Strategy, the GNWT is launching a pilot program in Fort Resolution and Inuvik to enable public housing clients to receive a positive credit rating when they make on-time monthly rent payments.

The program will allow clients to opt in to have their payments reported to credit bureaus. Only positive credit ratings will be disclosed.