Thank you, Madam Chair. To the right of me, I have Mr. Franklin Carpenter, acting president and CEO, and to the left of me I have Jim Martin, vice-president, Finance and Infrastructure Services. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. For the Members, we will be doing one round of questions, so 10 minutes per activity, and if you can keep your questions to the activity. For the Minister and her witnesses, the Members only have 10 minutes, so if you can answer their questions to the point so that we don't use up their time, that would be appreciated. Thank you.
I will now open the floor to general comments on the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. If there are no comments, does committee agree to proceed to the details contained in the tabled document?
Agreed.
Committee, we will defer the summary and review the estimates by activity summary, beginning with community housing services, starting on page 362, with information item on page 364. Questions? Members, any questions on this section? Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I confirm that this is the appropriate section in which to raise the question of providing building materials to local housing authorities? Thank you.
Minister, would you be able to clarify?
Yes, it is. I didn't know if you could hear me.
Thank you. Did you want to start, then? So, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I read in the media that the NWT Housing Corporation was going to look at a program of supplying building materials to communities to do their own maintenance. I wonder if the Minister could tell us more detail about this program. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we do have funding to support community building initiatives. I will just have Vice-President Franklin Carpenter elaborate on that. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Carpenter.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What we are doing over the next four years is putting a big push on getting people into private home ownership, particularly in smaller communities. One of the things that we see as essential to supporting this is that they have access to building materials, and perhaps even services from our local housing organizations, and this is only going to be available in small communities where those services aren't currently provided. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the witness for that. Could he provide more program details, such as whether these building materials are for sale or are they granted, and is the labour paid or is it granted, and what the criteria is for applying, other than living in a small community, and some of the more immediate details of how this is going to work? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We do support Indigenous partnerships and partnerships within the Northwest Territories. We do have programs that would be able to work within certain deliveries. I will have Vice-President Franklin Carpenter elaborate on the program delivery in this area. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Carpenter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The services or the materials are going to be fee-for-services. However, those households are encouraged to apply through our existing programming and, if they are eligible, the costs can be covered that way. The types of materials we're aiming to utilise, in our opinion, will be common materials that address emergency repairs; things such as water pumps or furnace-related heating equipment, that type of thing. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. What I don't understand here is that people are going to pay to fix up houses they don't own. Like, aren't these homes currently owned by the NWT Housing Corporation? Maybe the Minister could clarify that ownership situation with respect to the programming. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The programs would be identified with the stock that we own in the communities. The Housing Corporation doesn't own all infrastructure at the community level, but what is owned by the NWT Housing Corporation, we will be working with those. With the building supplies, that's meant for home ownership clients. Does that answer your question?
Thank you, Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Minister. So what I understand, then, is, if the client agrees to buy the home, then that client is eligible to apply for the building materials program. Is that correct?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, that is correct.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Could the Minister tell us about what the equivalent program is for encouraging home ownership in Yellowknife? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to elaborate on the programs that we have within Yellowknife to support home ownership. We do have a home ownership program that we do work with the client for the down payment assistance program for the Northwest Territories. I will just have the vice-president elaborate on that a little bit more, Franklin Carpenter. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Carpenter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As the Minister indicated, we do have a down payment assistance program for the major centres like Yellowknife, and we also participate, where needed, in groups that promote the development of housing. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not sure that I understood the witness's last sentence. Could he repeat that again, with some elaboration? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Mr. Carpenter.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Our approach to addressing increasing housing in major centres is different than our approach in smaller communities. In the major centres, there are different stakeholders, whether it's the private market or the municipalities, so we engage with them to see what role we can play to encourage more development of housing. Perhaps in this case we could promote the co-investment fund that we just achieved from Canada through our bilateral agreement. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you for that. I didn't realize that the co-investment fund could be used for home ownership. Can the witness confirm that that, in fact, is the case?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The co-investment fund is directly used for partnerships, and it is not a home ownership program. I just want to elaborate that the support for the bigger centres is for the down-payment assistance that we do offer, and it's also for the home-repair program that we do have, if there is an individual or a private homeowner who has purchased their own home and they need renovations or fuel-tank replacement. For the co-investment fund, that would be through partnerships and investments. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. According to the Housing Corporation's own numbers, only 19 families have taken home ownership in Yellowknife in the last five years. How is the Housing Corporation going to work with families in Yellowknife to get them to take up home ownership and move them out of public housing to make room for the massive waiting lists of families that we have now? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Through our program delivery, we have started to do an assessment, where we would find high-income earners who are eligible for home ownership. We do have the initiative to work with our clients to transition them into becoming homeowners and guiding them through the process where they'd be able to purchase their own home, so that they're set up for success. There is a process with that, as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you. That seems like a reasonable approach. I understand that as many of 20 percent of families are at the top end of the rent scale, and so they might be able to afford home ownership. Is there any obligation on this group of high-income earners to go into home ownership, or can they continue to be public housing clients indefinitely? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I realize that. When we have clients who have moved into our public housing units and they gradually change positions, they change lifestyles, they either decrease or they increase in the income that they are earning, we do work with them closely, and we do try to get them into the home ownership programs. The initiative is to counsel them because the Housing Corporation is almost like a social program delivery, as well. We make sure that we are setting our clients up for success. I hope that answered your question. I'm not too sure. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Are there any other questions under community housing services? Member for Hay River South.
