Good evening.
Thank you for the opportunity to present the work that Indigenous Services Canada is undertaking in collaboration with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and first nations partners to address the housing gap for indigenous people on and off reserve.
Before I proceed, I would like to recognize that I am presenting from the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin nation.
By way of introduction, I'm Chad Westmacott, director general of the community infrastructure branch within Indigenous Services Canada. My branch leads policy development, interpretation and implementation for infrastructure that helps to ensure that first nations communities have access to high-quality education facilities, clean drinking water and better housing.
Housing is a fundamental need for all Canadians, including indigenous people. All should have access to safe, adequate and affordable housing.
We know that first nations, Inuit and Métis are more likely to experience poor housing conditions, overcrowding and homelessness than the general population. We also know that overcrowding can be a key indicator of hidden homelessness, where people have access to accommodation but have no immediate prospect of permanent or stable housing.
Not having access to adequate housing has impacts on community and family well-being. For example, not having an adequate place to sleep or study can impact education, health and the ability to secure and maintain work. Housing is a core element of the social determinants of health, and its impacts are great, both on individuals and families.
COVID-19 has further illustrated the housing gap and the impacts housing has on human health. It has also emphasized the importance of working with indigenous communities to address their housing requirements.
In relation to housing on reserve, ISC supports first nations in the development of sustainable and community-driven housing solutions. This includes providing approximately $140 million in ongoing annual funding and has, for the past five years, included an additional $200 million annually in time-limited funding through budgets 2016 and 2018, for a total of $1 billion from those budgets. These funds are used to address urgent housing needs and support new construction and repairs to first nations housing units on reserve.
As of June 2020, ISC and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation have jointly supported the construction, renovation or retrofit of 20,096 homes and servicing of 1,127 lots, benefiting 595 first nations communities. ISC has also been supporting 992 housing-related capacity development and innovation projects in first nations communities. These projects include supporting the creation and implementation of housing authorities and housing management training.
In April 2019, the department also launched the $36-million indigenous homes innovation initiative. The initiative directly supports innovative indigenous-led and community-driven ideas that could lead to better housing and social conditions in rural, urban and remote first nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
Our support for first nations through these investments is improving living conditions. For example, the Anishnabe Nation of Lac Simon built eight semi-detached mini houses suitable for both seniors and single-parent families, to better respond to the needs of vulnerable people living alone.
Pelican Lake First Nation introduced new housing policies around home ownership, a housing maintenance program for tenants, and training on newly upgraded software used in on-reserve housing management for the community's housing staff. This has enhanced its ability to ensure that community members have comfortable, quality housing for generations to come.
These investments are only the first step in moving beyond responding to critical needs. To this end, ISC is working with the Assembly of First Nations and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to co-develop a 10-year first nations housing and related infrastructure strategy. The overall goal of the strategy is to improve housing conditions for first nations and ensure that all first nations have access to safe, adequate and healthy housing, thus creating sustainable and healthy communities.
This work supports first nations to identify their priorities, to prepare for the transfer of housing programs and services, and to identify how they want to be involved in addressing urban, rural and northern housing issues.
Next steps for the strategy include the co-development of an implementation plan to describe short-, medium- and long-term outcomes. Simultaneously, first nations-owned data and information is being gathered by first nations to inform further development and implementation of the strategy.
Finally, in support of closing the critical infrastructure gap by 2030, which includes housing, ISC is working with indigenous partners to co-develop plans that will support community-led investments in infrastructure that will help address disparities. This is balanced by a longer-term vision to stabilize infrastructure funding to ensure that resources are available to enable the successful transfer of housing services to first nations.
In closing, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to speak to the ongoing work that my department is doing to close the housing gap in collaboration with federal partners and indigenous people and organizations.
Thank you.