N.W.T. wants to use federal housing funds to demolish derelict homes

An N.W.T. deputy minister says the territorial government is hoping to use federal housing money to clear derelict homes from communities. 

The structures are falling into disrepair, and some contain dangerous materials like asbestos.

Gary Brennan, the deputy minister of the N.W.T. department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), spoke at a territorial committee meeting with MLAs on Tuesday. He said the territory was granted $74 million from the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund, but the funds are not allowed to be used for demolition of derelict houses. Brennan said that's something the territory hopes to change. 

Multiple community leaders say that demolishing derelict homes would help with the territory's housing crunch, by making space for new homes.

However, clearing those buildings is more complicated than just getting funding.

Working with the owners

Bertha Rabesca Zoe, Behchokǫ's incoming chief, said her community has structures that are falling into disrepair. 

"If some of these homes could be cleared, sure there would be available lots for additional homes," she said.

Rabesca Zoe said the lots and structures are privately owned and the community needs to work with those owners. 

Rabesca Zoe said Behchokǫ is also taking other initiatives to address its housing issues, including working on a subdivision for new homes. 

Derelict structures have also been a concern in Inuvik. This past spring the town council ended up buying up some lots and clearing them so that private developers could then purchase the lots to build new houses.

Demolishing and replacing derelict homes is also something Fort Good Hope is looking at.

"There is some houses there, structures standing there, that are old," said Collin Pierrot, chief of Fort Good Hope. 

Pierrot said the community government has reached out to the owners of some of the structures to ask if they would be interested in having them removed, but he said he hasn't received a response yet. 

Another issue Fort Good Hope faces with clearing these structures is the community's limited space in its landfill for waste, Pierrot said. There's been some talk of building a new landfill as the current one is overfull.

Brennan, the deputy minister of MACA, said the department is working with the federal housing minister to allow Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund money to cover both the demolition and removal of the waste, so that small community landfills don't have to deal with these issues. 

"We have issues in all of our landfills and small communities. So derelict houses have to be not just demolished, but also shipped south," he said. 

"There is potential funding available if we can move the lines on that agreement." 

Brennan said the territory had received a "soft commitment" from a "prior minister" on this and that the federal government has indicated a willingness to send the matter back to the Treasury Board, a federal cabinet committee that considers government funding proposals. 

Funding intended for water infrastructure

CBC News reached out to Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada for an interview about the issue. That request was not granted by deadline, but the department did provide an email with details on the funding. 

A spokesperson wrote that the funding agreement was meant for communities across the Northwest Territories to build or improve the critical infrastructure related to drinking water, wastewater, storm water, and solid waste — which will help them build more homes.

That means the cost of demolishing homes to make way for new homes is not eligible for the funding, the department says. 

"Such demolition would not increase capacity of municipal water or waste-related infrastructure that the fund supports," the email reads.

It says that while stand-alone projects wouldn't be eligible, the removal of housing waste could be if it were necessary in order to build a project that did meet the funding criteria, for example, removing derelict buildings that are preventing the construction of something like a drinking water system.