Debates of March 3, 2025 (day 49)
Question 574-20(1): Development of Territorial Building Standards Code

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement earlier on the building standards code, can the Minister provide if, indeed, the department has begun to work on having their very own buildings standards code for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an area of quite a lot of interest to me as well, and I was very pleased that the department was willing to undertake this area when -- beginning of this government. It is not only the Department of Infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. It involves municipal and community affairs, housing, as well as infrastructure. I can say that we certainly have come together as multiple departments. There is a working group in place, and what the next step is is to really put in place some recommendations of what it will look like to bring all the different pieces together to have a consolidated framework from the National Building Code and one that can be made-in-the North and applied for in the North and relevant to the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that; that is excellent news. Can the Minister tell me in the meantime, I guess any guidance that is offered if you do have a developer certainly in one of the regions that are reaching out, looking for that kind of information, is there anything currently set up in place that can offer some guidance to contractors or even individuals looking to build. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly don't want people to think there's not something in place. As of April of 2021, the Good Building Practice for Northern Facilities Fourth Edition was released by the department, and certainly would expect and consider it appropriate for all private developers in other levels of government and really any other non-GNWT bodies to be using this as their reference place. It does, in it, describe and explain what the model codes are and gives some guidance as to what we have found to be appropriate and workable for northern infrastructure. So certainly do want to point people to that document while we are working to have our very own set of codes in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you. And that's good news, if something. Certainly not something enforceable like I know we will have once the -- as the Minister's committed to, we do get our own set of building standards codes. Can the Minister commit to internally what kind of timelines they're looking at to hopefully have this completed? Is this something we can expect to have by the end of this legislature or what the timelines be on that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how about if I commit to having a plan for a plan? I don't have a final date at this moment in time, but I certainly have asked that we, as the 20th Assembly, walk out of here with that in place. So that certainly is my goal at this time. Our next step is for the working group to put forward their recommendations of what it will look like and with that, I expect we'll have a more firm timeline. But, again, it's certainly my hope for this at this moment that we are walking out of the 20th Assembly with this in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.