Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Honourable senators, Nunavut is facing a housing crisis. I know this statement isn’t a new concept to many of you. However, since this summer’s recess, I’ve been made aware of a major problem facing current and prospective Nunavut homeowners: condo insurance.

There are currently 20 condo corporations in Nunavut. Condominiums are individually owned units. Owners help share the cost of maintaining common elements, making it a cheaper, low-barrier entry point for homeowners in the territories. But inaction on the current pressing issue is causing Nunavut to lose a type of housing along a housing spectrum that already has major gaps.

Skyrocketing condo insurance is one of the major contributors to the low uptake of the Government of Nunavut’s home ownership program, which offers 60 condos for direct sale in Iqaluit. Condo corporations are seeing an average premium increase of 173%, while deductible increases have been anywhere between 100% and 1,900%. That is not a typo. One condominium corporation saw their deductible increase by $95,000 for a 1,900% increase.

For many homeowners, this is an untenable situation. No one wants or can afford to take on the increased stress of these high insurance rates, and presently people are walking away from their investments and returning to public housing, adding more stress to an already overstressed system. At least one condo corporation presently has no insurance coverage, which is unsafe and illegal.

It is also important to note that a survey recently showed 43% of condo owners in Nunavut are Inuit.

I urge the federal and territorial governments to work together to provide immediate relief to homeowners. We need to also work on long-term solutions to lowering the overall cost of insurance so that we can make sure that people’s investments are properly insured and that Nunavummiut are protected should their homes face catastrophe. We need to eliminate barriers to home ownership, so that those who can buy can do so and alleviate the stress on our public housing system. We need to solve the housing crisis, but we need to be aware that that doesn’t always mean more money to build more units.

Thank you. Qujannamiik. Taima.