Mr. Speaker, as I said in my statement yesterday, over the last four years I have consistently advocated to the federal government for funding to address housing needs across the Northwest Territories. This advocacy resulted in a significant expansion of the capital delivery program for the Northwest Territories.
Since the 18th Legislative Assembly, an extraordinary annual capital delivery plan of approximately $136 million in this 19th Legislative Assembly in the 20232024 fiscal year alone. This annual capital delivery plan will include the construction and repair of approximately 500 housing units.
The capital delivery program in the 19th Legislative Assembly included a commitment to build an additional 100 new homes for the public housing program which are all either completed or under construction in the current fiscal year. The 100unit public housing expansion represents the largest increase in public housing units that the territory has seen in decades, with units being built in communities across the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier this week, even though significant schedule disruptions caused by evacuations from floods and fire to low water levels affecting barging season and throughout various supply chains distribute the 100 units, rollout is still on track for construction in the 20232024 fiscal year as originally planned.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to the 100unit delivery over my term as Minister, Housing NWT has invested over $29 million in homeownership programming that has assisted numerous private homeowners across our territory with the purchase and repair of these homes, as well as providing much needed programming to assist seniors aging in place.
With the funding, NWT homeowners will be able to address needed home repairs before they became much more extensive and costly. Over this timeline, a further $50 million was invested by Housing NWT to repair projects to preserve and maintain Housing NWT's existing housing stock.
We have supported new construction and renovation projects for approximately 100 senior units throughout the Northwest Territories and provided 1,012 senior applicants across the Northwest Territories with funding to improve their homes and support aging in place at the beginning of my term as Minister as well.
Over the past four years, Housing NWT has provided 1,018 residents with support for emergency repairs, 198 residents with funding to support fuel tank replacements. 1,510 residents have accessed our prevention and maintenance program, allowing homeowners to do minor servicing and repairs, dealing with issues before they become more costly.
To support small communities in developing skilled trades, Housing NWT has leveraged every opportunity to help build and maintain this capacity to ensure the success of apprenticeship programs. Housing NWT introduced a requirement in 2020 for general contractors to hire at least one NWT apprenticeship in the new construction contracts. Since this time, Housing NWT's new construction contracts have supported 47 apprenticeship assignments. Housing NWT has also continued to work closely with local housing organizations to provide up to 12 apprenticeship within their staffing to support them each.
To further promote the increase of employment and skills development opportunities in small communities, Housing NWT, in their negotiated contracts with Indigenous governments and businesses seeking to build capacity Since the beginning of the 19th Legislative Assembly. Housing NWT has entered nine negotiated contracts increasing regional capacity in the residential construction sector across the Northwest Territories. These negotiated contracts have resulted in Indigenous governments, businesses, and contractors developing innovative programs to attract, develop, and retain northern workers to meet the commitments set out in our negotiated contract proposals and defined within our communities.
Mr. Speaker, inspired by Housing NWT's commitment to renewed ways of working together, Indigenous governments have had opportunities to participate in planning, design, site selection, and have been engaged in numerous construction contract opportunities. Over the life of this government, we continue to ensure that Indigenous governments are informed about current and upcoming delivery plans and continue to be engaged in key initiatives such as developing community housing plans. These partnerships help to ensure the local housing priorities and needs are considered during the planning process.
Mr. Speaker, while I have highlighted some of the government's housing successes, I want to be clear that this was not done without any difficulty. As I mentioned, the last four years have presented extraordinary challenges for the residential construction sector including disruptions with the material supply chain, the movement of skilled labour between construction sites, and the rising of fuel costs and construction material costs. The reality for remote communities have been even more challenging, which has required a high degree of creativity on our end.
I am so proud of the efforts of Housing NWT staff, Indigenous governments, partners at the community level who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic, the natural disasters, and the supply chain issues to support our work of building a better tomorrow for the Northwest Territories. I would like to thank the staff of housing for their continued creativity to enhance programming and to address our housing crisis. While I am celebrating the construction of 100 new public housing units and supports that have been provided, I want to emphasize to my colleagues and residents of the NWT that there is still more work to do to sustain these successes.
Housing NWT will promote a culture of participation, innovation, and continuous improvement well beyond the lifetime of this 19th Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to acknowledge Tom Williams, who was a former president of the Housing NWT, and former Minister Alfred Moses who held this portfolio in the last Assembly. Mr. Speaker, respectfully, I tried to carry their legacy forward and working with the people of the Northwest Territories and also enhancing our Indigenous file and working with the people at the local community level. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
