Housing NWT is increasing its rental rates in hundreds of dollars for residents in some of their units, and some tenants say it is a great financial success for them, at the wrong time.
“The conclusion is that they literally get food out of people’s mouths and put it in their pocket. That is the general consensus,” said Lisa Thurber, founder of the northwest territories of the tenant association.
Housing NWT has and rents both market rate units and subsidized units. Market units are based on smaller communities where housing options are limited, for nurses, teachers, RCMP, other critical workers and community members.
Rental increases are only applicable to NWT housing market rate units, and not their public housing units based on subsidized income.
CBC News listened to the tenants and Thurber that the increases vary from around $ 300 to more than $ 700 per month. Housing NWT has confirmed the new rates, but refused to say what are the current market rates.
According to a rental increase notice obtained by CBC News, in Tulita the current monthly rent for a three bedroom unit is $ 1,610; The new standardized rate will be $ 1,938, an increase of $ 328 per month.
Rental increases will enter into force in August. The last time the rentals increased was in 2012, according to Housing NWT
Thurber said that rental walks are arriving at a time when many people in the north are barely arriving at the end of the month.
“August is going to hit, and will really hit people, especially single mothers, single parents who can’t receive this blow,” Thurber said.
Thurber said he first listened to people who received warnings last week and that he quickly received more than 20 messages from people in the territory that said one. She said the increases vary according to the community and the size of the unit.
The CMHC 2024 rental market survey found that the average monthly rental rate in the NWT was $ 1,974.
CBC News requested an interview with Housing NWT, but there was no one available.
In an email to CBC News, a Housing NWT spokesman wrote that notices will be sent to market rental tenants before May 1. They said that the increases are based on a scan of the rental rates in the market, which included the annual report of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and are intended to “guarantee alignment with the private market.”
Email also said that rental income is “crucial for program financing, especially with the decrease in federal support.”
In March, the Minister of Finance, Caroline Wawzonek, committed additional $ 41.6 million in the Territorial Budget to Housing NWT, “to make very necessary investments in public homes.”
Housing for teachers
Rita Mueller, president of the NWT Teachers Association, says that the affordability and lack of rental units available in the north can lead teachers to work elsewhere. He fears that increasing rent rates at this time worsen it.
“I think we are going to lose several teachers really dedicated to those who would love to stay there, they would love to continue working and serving in those communities, but we cannot afford to do it,” Mueller said.
Mueller said the announcement also occurs during a scarcity of ongoing teachers.
“If you are lucky enough to find an available home, often the cost of that rental unit is totally unaffordable, especially for our new and main teachers,” he said.
Mueller said that for years teachers in NWT communities have had to share rooms and smaller spaces with colleagues. She says that is also happening now in regional centers such as Yellowknife.
“It’s not just about the rent.
No rental limit at NWT
The NWT does not have a limit on how much an owner can increase every year, nor Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, or New Scotland.
Manitoba froze rent in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, the province allowed a three percent increase, and this year an increase of 1.7 percent.
The Yukon established its two percent rental increase limit this year.
New Brunswick introduced a maximum rental increase policy this year. British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Eduardo island have rental increase limits. Quebec has a rental regulation policy in which a tenant can reject any proposed increase within a month after receiving notification of it.
The NWT government analyzed the implementation of its own rental increase policy in 2023, after Thurber began a petition for one and old MLA Katrina Nokelby presented a motion for the Legislative Assembly.
Some city and territorial officials argued that a limit would damage the market and, therefore, less new units could be built.
Jay Macdonald is the Minister of Territorial Justice and would be responsible for any change made in the NWT Residential Tenure Law. CBC News requested an interview with Macdonald and Nwt Lucy Kuptana Housing Minister, but did not receive an answer at the time of publication.
