Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I talked a bit about aging in place and some of the numbers around that. I would like to ask the Minister if she would commit to completing planning for aging in place prior to winter roads so that the process of allowing seniors to age in place can begin this summer. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is actually just beginning to do a full study on seniors' needs, not only where they are most populated and where we should be building, but also what exactly they want within those buildings. We will be working with the Department of Health and Social Services because I know they have quite a bit of information. We will be working with the NWT Seniors' Society. We are looking at how better we can serve seniors, not only what their necessities are, but also what their wants are as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think my question and my statement are mostly around senior homeowners; not what can be built for the seniors, but allowing the seniors to age in place in their own home, in their own community. That is the planning I am referring to, Mr. Speaker. Can I get the Minister to commit to completing that planning prior to winter roads?
I do have to say that I am the Minister for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. I do not run the Department of Infrastructure, and I do hope the Department of Infrastructure is also working on winter roads because winter is right around the corner. I can say that we have 700 seniors currently in public housing units. We have 374 public housing units that are designated for seniors and/or disabled people. We built seniors' complexes within the last couple of years in Fort McPherson, Fort Good Hope, Fort Liard, Whati, and Aklavik.
We have increased programs for seniors. We have a seniors' retrofit program. They can qualify for the CARE Major, CARE Minor, or SAFE Program. The seniors' retrofit is on top of all those; so it can be compounded for their renovations. The biggest thing I want seniors to know, though, is our CARE PM program. That program will actually come in once a year and actually look at things such as your furnace, such as your hot water tank, to hopefully make sure that you will not have any problems over the winter months. The biggest thing, like I say, is to let all our seniors know, our elders know, in the communities, to apply for the CARE Preventative Maintenance, because that is the most effective way to provide services to seniors before crises happen.
I am not talking about construction of winter roads. I know that if I have a question on winter road construction, I would ask the Minister of Infrastructure. I am trying to get a feel for whether or not the Housing Corporation has done any planning at all. What I am referring to is home ownership, not public housing. That does not matter to me. We can continue to move seniors around in the appropriate public housing in order that they remain in public housing as long as possible. I know that for sure. That is obvious. I am asking about seniors who are aging out of their houses, and what we need to do is make sure that they are able to remain in their homes. I am asking the Minister the question for that reason. Has the Minister determined the number of seniors across the NWT that can age in their own home, in their own community?
As stated earlier in my answers, we are actually just in the process of doing a full review of all services available to seniors, identifying how many seniors, what their needs are, and what the most effective way is to keep them not only in their homes, but comfortable, so that they can be in their homes and age in place. That process is just starting.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are approximately 2,900 households in need in the NWT. I would like to ask the Minister if the NWT Housing Corporation, in the last two years, has been able to divide that need into the four nuclear groups that I spoke of earlier.
Every five years, the government of the Northwest Territories does a statistical analysis of all the residents in the Northwest Territories. Part of that actually addresses the housing needs within the territories, and that gives us our core need report. The last one was done in 2014; so I am expecting that fairly soon another full report will be done. At that time, it will break down exactly where the core needs are, if it is suitability, adequacy, or affordability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
