Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of housing. So as it stands now, the Ne'Rahten Development Limited corporation in Fort Good Hope is contracted by Housing NWT to deliver the maintenance and repair programs within the community. Does Housing NWT see other opportunities to tie in and support efforts in Fort Good Hope as they strive to take back more control over both construction and maintenance of housing in the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT sees many opportunities with Fort Good Hope, with the K’asho Got’ine Housing Society. We're happy to report that Housing NWT has a really good working relationship with the housing societies and has had multiple contracts in place for the delivery of maintenance and repair programs for private homes in the most recent years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does Housing NWT see opportunities to support this kind of concept of a housing construction centre in other NWT communities besides Fort Good Hope? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think this opportunity that has been driven by the local housing society is a really great opportunity that all communities should consider. And Housing NWT came forward as a partner in assisting them with the application for the funding allocation that they recently received. So this is a possibility in all ridings and all communities. It's just that the work has to be done in partnership with Housing NWT but also locally, they have to be driven by the work. So the possibility is there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So to what extent does Housing NWT issue its maintenance and repair contracts to local development corporations and businesses like it does in Fort Good Hope, you know, in other communities in the territory as opposed to issuing those kind of contracts to contractors from outside the region or outside the territory? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Housing NWT, with our results, is approximately 95 percent of all contracting opportunities go to local or NWT businesses. We follow the GNWT procurement policy, and we also follow the business incentive policy. Housing NWT has local housing organizations in 23 communities which each have their own local staff leading maintenance and repair work on housing assets. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And to that end, to increase local capacity how many people who have gone through the Housing NWT apprenticeship program have actually been journey certified? And what is Housing NWT doing to ensure this number is increasing even more rapidly in coming years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is critical work that we have to do throughout the North. We have to gain capacity. We have to build capacity in our communities. And these need to be local people and local jobs. That's how we're going to do it. And this is how we're going to build, like, the North, and it's working locally and having that local capacity. So the work that Housing NWT does in partnership with Education, Culture and Employment is critical work that we have to do going forward. And over the last number of years, Housing NWT, with the local housing associations, has supported 64 apprenticeships over the last number of years. So thank you, Mr. Speaker
