Thank you, everyone. Unnusakkut, good afternoon, Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for this invitation.
My name is Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko. I'm here on behalf of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, the national representative organization for Inuit across this country. Since 1984, our mandate has been to advocate for systemic change to improve the social, cultural and economic well-being of Inuit women. Housing and shelters have been central to that work for decades.
I want to begin with a simple statement for Inuit women: The issues before this committee are not policy questions. They are a human rights emergency. The lack of safe, affordable and culturally appropriate housing is a crisis rooted in forced settlement, one that places Inuit women in danger every day.
The numbers from our own research are stark: 52.9% of Inuit in Inuit Nunangat live in overcrowded housing, and 32.7% live in homes requiring major repairs. Inuit women are six times more likely than non-indigenous women to live in unsuitable housing. Approximately 59% of Inuit communities have no emergency shelter, which means that many Inuit women fleeing violence have nowhere safe to go, and 62% of urban Inuit women surveyed by Pauktuutit had avoided going to a shelter due to feeling unsafe or facing discriminatory treatment.
Overcrowding is not just a housing problem; it is a violence problem. When there are no alternatives, Inuit women are forced into dangerous situations. The link between housing insecurity and gender-based violence is a daily reality in our communities. The crisis also exists outside of Inuit Nunangat. As more Inuit move to cities, the lived realities of urban Inuit require equal attention from this committee.
At Pauktuutit, we have spent decades collecting evidence and building solutions. We co-developed and co-chaired, with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Indigenous Services Canada, the shelters initiative for indigenous women and children. This was a proven Inuit-led model, with representatives reviewing and selecting projects. As of 2025, 12 Inuit-led shelter transitional housing projects have been approved, including an emergency shelter and transitions home in Puvirnituq, Nunavik.
We are also leading a national housing and shelters research and advocacy initiative examining lived experiences across the full housing continuum. Our finding is clear: Housing insecurity is more than an infrastructure problem; it is a systems failure requiring federal policy reform.
Despite this progress, I must be honest with this committee. When asked to rate how well current federal housing policies meet Inuit women's needs, on a scale of one to five, Pauktuutit rates this current system at two. Why? There are four core failures. There is no stable multi-year funding for Inuit women's shelter organizations. The affordability benchmark in the national housing strategy, which is 30% of regional income, is meaningless in communities where the cost of living is 40% to 100% higher than in southern Canada. Funding cycles are short and competitive, and the administrative burden undermines the ability of Inuit organizations to plan and deliver sustained solutions. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami has identified a need for $3.04 billion over 10 years, just to bring Inuit core housing needs to the Canadian average. However, federal budgets do not come close to meeting this need.
The committee is asking what support measures are needed. Pauktuutit’s answers are to, one, establish a dedicated Inuit women's housing and shelter fund. A distinctions-based federally administered funding stream must be co-developed with Inuit women's organizations. It requires multi-year operational support and an investment that reflects northern construction realities.
Two, permanently fund—