Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions in follow up to my Member's statement for the Minister of Housing. I'd like to ask the Minister, right now, how does the Housing Corporation take both family incomes and community costs into account in applications for their programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The coordinating thresholds that we use to determine allocations for programs that the Housing Corporation utilizes is done every two years, and they are separated into different zones between communities, and recognizing that there are differences within incomes and the cost of living within each zone, so there are certain things that we do. For example, I'll give an example of the PATH program to emphasize that. Within Yellowknife for the PATH program, because of the cost of living, people who are applying for housing, their own housing, can get up to a five per cent down payment on that program. But in the communities, because we recognize that jobs are hard, cost of living is high, et cetera, they can access up to 55 per cent of the down payment for those programs. We do take into account the different regions and the different costs of living within each region.
I know this is before both the Minister's and my time, but some of you may recall the HAP program that many of the people in the communities took advantage of in the mid-'80s. Mr. Speaker, that was a great program, but to help those home owners with the programs we have offered today, it just doesn't match up. I'd like to ask the Minister: will the Minister direct the Housing Corporation to review income thresholds that determine access to PATH and CARE programs to make sure they are tailored to the unique needs of each community?
Yes, so the income thresholds will be reviewed in 2017. We do that every two years. As well, like I had said when I first started here, I am committed to being very community-focused and we are sending out a survey probably towards the end of this month that is asking each specific community what their needs are and what their priorities are. We will be developing a plan, a community-based plan, from that that identifies what the communities' issues are and what they see as needs within each separate community.
I would also like to ask: when the Housing Corporation does repairs to public housing in small communities, could arrangements be made for its crews to assist private home owners?
Currently at this moment we are in talks, I am in talks, with the Housing Corporation. There is a cost to having crews, but I'm looking at more of a training program. When I recognize that the CMHC funding is going to disappear within the next 20 years or so, we need to have a better plan. I'm actually looking at more than just having crews go in and assist home owners, but actually looking at, is it possible for us to do some training of community members so that we can support self-governance and support the communities to take some ownership within their own communities. That's in the beginning stages, but I can guarantee that within this government's term we will be looking specifically at seeing how we can assist communities to take more ownership and self-reliance within their housing issues.
Home building and renovations are more expensive outside the regional centres. How do current housing programs take this into account?
As stated, we do have the different regions for the income thresholds, so we take into account the cost of living, et cetera. They are also separated by the amounts of bedrooms, the counts with two bedrooms or less, three bedrooms or more, et cetera. Again, we will be doing a new threshold needs assessment within the 2017 fiscal year. There are programs in place such as the PATH which does give 55 per cent, again, for a down payment, versus in Yellowknife where it's only 5 per cent. We are trying to recognize the communities' needs and work within the communities. Our survey that will be going out will provide more in-depth knowledge so that we can provide a proper plan to address those issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
