Check against delivery

Mr. Speaker, throughout the life of this government, I have travelled to many communities and it cannot go unnoticed that every community in the Northwest Territories is unique and has different needs. With 33 unique communities in the NWT, flexible programming is needed to ensure community needs are being met.

The NWT Housing Corporation has a program to support Indigenous governments and community agencies to develop innovative, community-driven housing projects of their own design. The Community Housing Support Program works to ensure that local priorities around housing and homelessness can be met with a variety of support options.

Mr. Speaker, flexibility really is key with this program. The Housing Corporation, under this program, offers support through grants and other contributions. Support may be in the form of policy and program design, material packages, technical expertise, land management, or surplus units when appropriate.

Mr. Speaker, at this time the Community Housing Support Program is supporting projects in eight communities across the NWT. In Fort Smith, the Housing Corporation has completed a project with the Salt River First Nation that has led to the creation of six new affordable housing units. In this case, the Housing Corporation provided the materials and the Salt River First Nation provided the land and labour.

In both Whatı̀ and Jean Marie River, similar projects were completed. Two new units were constructed in each community, with the Housing Corporation providing a contribution for the construction.

Mr. Speaker, in Nahanni Butte and Fort Good Hope the Community Housing Support Program has been used to create community-driven housing repair programs.  Through these community-managed repair programs, communities prioritize the residents that they think are most in need of repairs.  Funding allows them to inspect houses, create scopes of work, purchase materials and hire local tradespeople and apprentices to conduct the work.

In Colville Lake the community expressed interest in log homes, so the Housing Corporation is working on a log home demonstration project in the community. The project proposes the construction of four log homes in Colville Lake, constructed with funding from the Housing Corporation. The community will supply the logs and will coordinate the design, land development, and construction.

Mr. Speaker, working in partnership with Indigenous governments and community agencies is a priority of this government. Partnerships like those supported by the Community Housing Support Program are critical to making sure the Housing Corporation is working to meet the needs identified by the communities themselves.  The program dovetails perfectly with supporting communities to identify their housing priorities through the establishment of community housing plans.

The Community Housing Support Program is a key tool in supporting communities to address their housing aspirations. I am looking forward to seeing the results of these partnerships and what the next innovative, locally driven projects are that grow from this initiative.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.