'It's going to hit people really hard': Housing N.W.T. hiking rent by hundreds of dollars for some units

Jocelyn Shepel · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Housing N.W.T. is expanding its rental rates by hundreds of dollars for residents successful immoderate of its units — and immoderate tenants are saying it's a large fiscal deed for them, astatine the incorrect time.  

"The bottommost enactment is they're virtually taking nutrient retired of people's mouths and putting it successful their pocket. That's the wide consensus," said Lisa Thurber, laminitis of the Tenants Association Northwest Territories.

Housing N.W.T. owns and leases some market-rate units and subsidized units. The marketplace units are relied connected successful smaller communities wherever lodging options are limited, for nurses, teachers, RCMP, different captious workers and assemblage members. 

The rent increases are lone applicable to Housing N.W.T.'s market-rate units, and not its subsidized income-based nationalist lodging units.

CBC News heard from tenants and from Thurber that the increases scope from around $300 to much than $700 per month. Housing N.W.T. has confirmed the caller rates but declined to accidental what the existent marketplace rates are.

According to a rent summation announcement obtained by CBC News, successful Tulita the existent monthly rent for a three-bedroom portion is $1,610; the caller standardized complaint volition beryllium $1,938 — an summation of $328 per month.

The rent increases volition travel into effect successful August. The past clip rents were accrued was successful 2012, according to Housing N.W.T. 

Thurber said the rent hikes are coming at a clip when many people successful the North are hardly making ends meet.

"August is gonna hit, and it's going to deed radical truly hard, particularly the azygous moms, the azygous parents retired determination that cannot instrumentality this hit," said Thurber.

Thurber said she archetypal heard from radical receiving notices past week and rapidly had implicit 20 messages from radical successful the territory saying they received one. She said the increases vary by assemblage and the size of the unit.

The 2024 CMHC Rental Market Survey recovered the mean monthly rental complaint in the N.W.T. to beryllium $1,974.

CBC News requested an interrogation with Housing N.W.T. but nary 1 was available.

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for Housing N.W.T. wrote that notices volition beryllium sent to market-rent tenants by May 1. They said the increases are based connected a scan of rental rates successful the market, which included the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) yearly report, and are meant to "ensure alignment with the backstage market."

The email besides said that rent revenues are "crucial for programme funding, particularly with declining national support."

In March, Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek committed an further $41.6 cardinal successful the territorial fund to Housing N.W.T., "to marque overmuch needed investments successful nationalist housing."

Housing for teachers 

Rita Mueller, president of the N.W.T. Teachers' Association, says affordability and deficiency of disposable rental units successful the North tin thrust teachers to enactment elsewhere. She's acrophobic that expanding rental rates close present is going to marque that worse.

"I deliberation that we are going to suffer a fig of truly dedicated teachers who would emotion to enactment there, would emotion to proceed moving and serving successful those communities, but conscionable can't spend to bash that," said Mueller.

Mueller said the announcement besides comes during an ongoing teacher shortage. 

"If they are fortunate capable to find disposable housing, often the outgo of that rental portion is wholly unaffordable, particularly for our caller and opening teachers," she said.

Mueller said that for years teachers successful N.W.T. communities person had to stock rooms and smaller spaces with colleagues. She says that's besides happening present in regional centres like Yellowknife.

"It's not conscionable astir the rent going up. It's the ever-increasing costs of nutrient and energy and heating substance and each of the expenses that each N.W.T. residents continuously face," said Mueller

No rent headdress successful N.W.T.

The N.W.T. doesn't person a headdress connected however overmuch a landlord tin summation rent each year, nor does Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, oregon Nova Scotia. 

Manitoba froze rent increases successful 2022 and 2023. In 2024, the state allowed a three-per-cent increase, and this twelvemonth a 1.7-per-cent increase.

The Yukon acceptable its rent summation headdress at two per cent this year.

New Brunswick introduced a maximum rent summation argumentation this year. British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island each person rent summation limits. Quebec has a rent regularisation argumentation wherever a renter tin garbage immoderate projected summation wrong 1 period of receiving announcement of it.

The N.W.T. authorities looked into implementing its ain rental summation argumentation successful 2023, aft Thurber started a petition for 1 and erstwhile MLA Katrina Nokelby enactment guardant a question to the legislative assembly. 

Some metropolis and territorial officials argued that a headdress would wounded the marketplace and truthful less new units mightiness beryllium built.

Jay Macdonald is the territorial justness curate and would beryllium liable for immoderate changes made to the N.W.T. Residential Tenancy Act. CBC News requested an interrogation with Macdonald, and N.W.T. Housing Minister Lucy Kuptana, but did not person a effect by the clip of publishing.