N.W.T. MLAs seek audit of Housing NWT spending

YELLOWKNIFE – A committee of Northwest Territories MLAs is asking the territorial government to order a performance audit of what Housing NWT has spent so far, saying members cannot tell whether the money is delivering the best possible results for people who need homes.

The request is one of 25 recommendations in a report from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, dated Oct. 29, 2026. The committee spent a year reviewing the Auditor General of Canada’s 2025 audit of housing in the territory, including a public briefing with the auditor general’s office and Housing NWT on March 4, 2026.

The report sets out how long people wait. It says 918 households, about 3,080 people, were on the public housing waitlist for an average of two years, and most were looking for a bachelor or one-bedroom unit.

By our calculation, that waitlist equals about 39 per cent of the 2,365 public housing units the corporation managed as of March 31, 2025. The report says those units were worth about $269.5 million, were just over 33 years old on average, and that 18 per cent were at or beyond the end of their service life.

The committee said Housing NWT reported that 437 public housing units have passed their expected service life and that more than 1,000 more are expected to reach that point by 2044. It also cited figures showing 18 per cent of N.W.T. households reported homes needing major repairs, compared with seven per cent in the provinces.

Cost was a major concern at the committee’s hearings, even though the auditor general did not examine value for money directly. “Members heard that the average cost of constructing a new public housing unit is approximately $600,000,” the report said. The committee recognized that remoteness, shipping distances, labour shortages and other northern challenges are beyond Housing NWT’s control.

Still, the committee said: “Members are not able to assess whether investments are delivering the best possible results.” Pointing to roughly $150 million in new territorial funding for public housing in recent years, it recommended that the government direct its Internal Audit Bureau “to undertake a performance audit of Housing Northwest Territories spending to date” and use the results to improve value for money.

The report also gave Housing NWT credit. The auditor general’s office told the committee the corporation’s responses were more detailed than in past audits and included measurable, time-bound actions, and the committee called it “a strong initial response.”

“However, Committee remains concerned that similar issues have been identified in audits dating back to 2008 and 2012,” the report said. It noted that the auditor general found in 2008 that Housing NWT did not adequately monitor local housing organizations, and that a 2012 follow-up found monitoring of public housing still needed significant improvement.

Among the other recommendations, the committee wants the government to develop a risk-based, two-to-five-year maintenance and asset renewal strategy with measurable targets for cutting the repair backlog by the end of the current legislative assembly, and to provide multi-year funding to support it. It also wants Housing NWT’s annual report to show how new construction, replacement units and major repairs are affecting housing supply and waitlist demand, community by community.

Several recommendations aim at the shortage of trades workers who maintain homes in small communities. They include raising apprentice wages, allowing more apprentices per journeyperson in small and remote communities, and lowering the entry age for the Schools North Apprenticeship Program to 14.

The committee asked the government to respond to the report within 120 days.

Lucy Kuptana, the minister responsible for Housing NWT, said in a statement to the legislature on Oct. 29 that the corporation accepted all of the auditor general’s recommendations and continues to work on fully addressing them, as we reported Oct. 31. Rising building costs are a national issue as well: Statistics Canada figures showed residential construction costs rose 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2026.

Residents who need housing can apply through the local housing organization in their community. The full committee report is posted on the Legislative Assembly website, and residents can tell their MLA which recommendations they want the government to act on before its response is due.

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With reporting by a Canada News Media contributor.