Thank you Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the housing issues and noted that CMHC will no longer be providing O and M funds to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation by the year 2038. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if there are any plans to restore this funding or otherwise mitigate this loss so that we can maintain our public housing programs across the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most recently myself, along with my territorial, provincial and federal counterparts, have been working to endorse the Multi-lateral Housing Partnership Framework. We continue to negotiate with Canada, through the National Housing Strategy, and our current next step is to work on signing a bilateral agreement with the Government of Canada through the Northern Housing Fund. We didn't get our fair share of that funding, so we are negotiating with the Government of Canada to address those issues, and that agreement hopefully should be signed this fall so we'll be able to have a better understanding of how those dollars are going to be spent.
I can let you know at this time, however, that we have been successful in convincing the federal government to support the sustainability of social housing for the next 10 years, which is the life of the National Housing Strategy, and we will continue to work with the federal government and keep them apprised of the housing needs that we have in our communities, and how can we work together to address them. As you have heard me say in this House before, it's not only us as a government, but working with our Indigenous governments, our community governments, and our NGOs to address the core housing needs throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response. According to the federal budget, the Northwest Territories will receive $36 million over the next 10 years for housing-related matters. Mr. Speaker, how will these funds be used to address Northwest Territories housing needs?
In my previous response I did say that we're continuing to have bilateral negotiations with the Government of Canada, so we're hoping that we'll see an increase in the amount of funding that we can disperse out into the communities to address some of the housing needs. However, the current funding that the Member had asked about, it is a flexible fund that can be used for a number of social or affordable housing purposes. We're allocating the funding from the Northern Housing Fund toward the operations and maintenance costs of public housing, and toward the demolition of units slated for disposal, which will free up land for future development to address some of the aging infrastructure that we have. We'll also be using it to support the community housing support initiatives and working with our apprentices.
Although this funding is helpful, our government believes that the amount provided is nowhere enough to address the needs that we have throughout the Northwest Territories, and as I said previously, that's why we're negotiating with the Government of Canada, and hopefully we'll see a substantial increase in our housing funding to address some of the housing needs throughout the Northwest Territories.
That sounds promising, and I look forward to the Minister's work in the years to come. Mr. Speaker, there are NWT residents who have remained on waiting lists for public housing, sometimes for years at a time. It is essential that new units are built to meet these needs. Mr. Speaker, what plans are there to construct new units and expand housing options in Nunakput communities?
As you heard in my Minister's statement, one great project, that's a pilot project that we're rolling out in these four communities, is the Northern Pathways to Housing Program. It's not only going to be housing some of our homeless residents, but it's going to give them the opportunity to get the wrap-around services that they need. We also will be expanding our home ownership supports, which includes launching a new home program targeted at public housing tenants, which has been mentioned by the previous Minister, and how we can work with our tenants who are in good behavior, in good standing, and help them look to owning their new homes, which is also a very great program.
We're also exploring direct delivery, repair, and maintenance services so that we can get some of our housing units back up to code and standards, so we can get our residents and tenants in those programs, into those housing units, as well as other programs and initiatives that I've mentioned in terms of a Core Housing Needs Action Plan.
I know working in partnerships with our Indigenous governments, in particular in the Beaufort Delta and Nunakput region, we are working with invaluable regional corporations, where 12 new units are being constructed; four in Paulatuk, four in Ulukhaktok, two in Sachs Harbour, and two in Tuktoyaktuk. Additionally we have the community housing support initiative, where communities have come forward with innovative ideas on housing for single individuals, and we'll continue to support a lot of these programs, but it's going to take partnerships, Mr. Speaker, much like with IRC, and working to address these housing concerns.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
