Housing N.W.T. rent hikes higher than suggested, some tenants say

Some tenants in Housing N.W.T. units say their rent is going up by more than what the territory has suggested.

Housing N.W.T. this spring raised the rent on its market-rate units across the territory, by hundreds of dollars. Those units are used in smaller communities where housing options are limited, for nurses, teachers, RCMP, other critical workers and community members.  

One teacher working in the Sahtu region says Housing N.W.T. has said the highest rent increase in the territory is $500 for a three-bedroom unit — but the price of his one-bedroom unit has gone up by more than that.

"They're saying the top end is lower than what they've increased mine and all my neighbours," the teacher said. CBC News has agreed not to name him due to fears of reprisal in relation to his housing and living situation.

CBC News has seen multiple documents from several teachers that show significantly higher rents than what's in Housing N.W.T.'s new rent scale. 

Tenants began learning of the rent increases last month. The news prompted considerable reaction, especially from teachers, who occupy many of the market units. Housing N.W.T. owns and leases both market-rate units and subsidized units but only the market units are seeing a rent increase. 

The territory's housing minister has said the rent increases were a difficult but necessary move to maintain fairness in the housing market, and said the additional revenue is needed because of declining federal support.

The Sahtu educator has a one-bedroom unit and his rent is going up from $1,240 to $1,937, an increase of $697. That does not include power costs.

According to Housing N.W.T.'s new rent scale, a unit of that size should now be $1,437, which includes the cost of heating fuel.   

In a statement to CBC News, Housing N.W.T. says it cannot discuss individual rental rates, but said the rent scale prices only include heating fuel and not other expenses. It said there are also "special arrangements when other utilities are included in the rent," such as in a multi-unit building where water is not individually metered. 

Those "special arrangements" appear to mean exactly $500 on top of the rent scale increase for some tenants. In those units, Housing N.W.T. is responsible for heating fuel, water, sewer and garbage. 

'Doesn't make sense' to stay in North, teacher says

The Sahtu teacher said the increases and additional costs could be the tipping point for whether he decides to stay in the North.

"Long term it doesn't make sense," he said.

He says it's the same for some of his co-workers.

"Another teacher was on the fence about staying. Their roommate left and because the rent has been increased so much, it's just not worth risking not having a roommate to split what is now unaffordable," the teacher said.

He's also puzzled by the new market-rent scale being the same across the territory. He said he often hears politicians and organizations talk about how communities vary across the territory and there's no single approach that works for all of them. 

"When it suits their purposes they can say that rent needs to be set to market rates. But how can [my community] be charging the same amount as a place 1,000 kilometres away, on the ocean?"

Some tenants are also perplexed by the territory's claim that rental rates have remained unchanged for its market units since 2012.  Some of those tenants received notices saying the last increase for their rental unit was in 2014, 2016, or 2019.

Asked about those apparent increases, Housing N.W.T. did not comment but said that it encourages tenants to "contact their local housing organization should they require further clarification on their rental situation."