Auditor general's assessment of public housing 'no surprise' for minister
More funding for public housing to come this fiscal year, says David Hickey
Housing Minister David Hickey said his department isn't surprised the auditor general found "significant deficiencies" with public housing.
"This report is no surprise to anyone around my table. It is no surprise to me. We knew the state of public housing and we knew that it was in crisis. We knew it when we came into government," said Hickey.
The auditor general's report, which was released this week, found delays in repairs and incomplete inspections, which left units vacant and more people on the waitlist.
During the review period from April 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2024, there was a list of 13,129 households waiting to get into one of the province's 4,630 public housing units.
"We are in the midst of an infrastructure crisis with the amount of public housing we have," Hickey said, adding that the issue is a "significant priority" for him.
The average wait to turn around vacant units to new occupants was 140 days, and three per cent took more than a year. The target is 30 days, yet only four per cent of units hit that target.
Hickey said maintenance teams are "massively overwhelmed with the amount of units they need to support."
The department plans to hire an additional 15 people, including six new inspectors.
Hickey said the New Brunswick Housing Corporation will get a budget increase of 18.6 per cent.
Adam Bowie, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, said the increase is $36.6 million but $21.1 million will be used for the expansion of the province's direct-to-tenant rental benefit, which was announced last month.
Hickey said his department will receive a $7.8-million increase for maintenance and capital improvements.
The auditor general's report said mitigation work for issues like pests, mould and fire safety were completed on time only 36 per cent of the time, and that annual interior inspection requirements were not met in 85 per cent of regions with four not conducting any annual inspections.
Hickey couldn't say whether any units should be closed, but that "it's not much to be proud of."
Housing expert also not surprised
Julia Woodhall-Melnik isn't surprised by the auditor general's report either.
"We're constantly receiving emails and calls from folks who are living in public housing, who are living with things like pests, mould, uninhabitable conditions that can make themselves sick, their children sick," said Woodhall-Melnik, an associate professor in social sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John and the co-director of the Housing, Mobilization, Engagement and Resiliency Lab.
Her social science lab studies housing insecurity and social inclusion to share their findings with the public and all levels of government.
The lab is currently going through their findings of people's well-being while living in public housing.
Woodhall-Melnik said one problem is that those living in public housing are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.
"With the province not being held to account by the Residential Tenancies Act. Really, they are invisible, they are forgotten."
She is recommending that Hickey's department creates a "system of accountability" to make sure their goals are met.
Both Hickey and Woodhall-Melnik agree that the breakdown in New Brunswick public housing began in the '90s.
That was when the federal government handed the responsibility over to the province and funding dried up.
"A commitment of around $2 million a year in operational funding to support the maintenance of 4,600 units — it doesn't go very far and it's led us into the situation where we are now," said Hickey.
Solutions from Hickey
The report also found the budget was "not available to spending approvers" and that a financial plan was not established, assessed or monitored.
Hickey said he wants to be "as transparent as possible" going forward and be clear about where money is being spent and what the outcome is.
He said he'd also like to work with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to utilize the equity in public housing — approximately $400 million.
"We should be putting that to work and using some of that equity to do the repairs on the units that we need. It would allow us to do it faster."
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