Last month, the NWT Disabilities Council announced that they had reached an impasse in their long-planned 50-unit accessible housing project after talks broke down with Housing NWT over subleased lands.
Denise McKee, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair of the Disabilities Council, told True North FM that the group has not given up.
“We continue to work with partners in the GNWT. We want this project to move ahead, we just can’t do it under these conditions so we stand, we will continue to advocate for ability and inclusion. We were always at the table, and we always operated in good faith. We are open because it’s really about what makes things better for people in the territory,” said McKee.
This week, Housing NWT told Truth North FM that they are also open to continuing talks.
“While a mutual agreement was not reached, we remain open to future collaboration with the NWT Disabilities Council and we will continue to advance inclusive housing projects across the territory,” said Jeanne Gard, communications manager of Housing NWT.
McKee explained the project had been under development since 2020, was designed to provide not just housing, but a chance at independence, stability, and participation in community life.
The project plans kept moving forward, despite Covid, post-Covid, wildfires in 2023, McKee remembered. By 2024, things seemed to be coming together with applications, designs and plans all in place, but then things “suddenly” started to come apart in February, explained McKee.
McKee said Housing NWT proposed they relinquish the sublease the lands where they had long planned and invested in the build.
Housing NWT said that in their view, “milestones” in the original lease agreement were not up to their standards.
“Housing NWT met with the NWTDC and expressed our interest in moving ahead on a more imminent housing project, while working to identify an alternate acceptable lot for the NWT Disabilities Council’s future build,” said Gard.
McKee said the housing corporation’s plans to use the lands for another potential project were a factor in the decision to change the terms of their agreement.
“They wanted to use it for something else that they said was ready to go and had come to the meeting saying that they would help us in other ways. And maybe a vague promise of some replacement land. And still we engaged in the discussions. They withdrew the sublease at this point. We were in a position where we really didn’t have a say, they undermined the intent of the agreement, refused to extend the sublease, and we were in a position where we would be required to start the entire process again, the planning process, all the years of work that we had done,” said McKee.
The housing corporation said that the council’s project needed to follow a timeline set out by Housing NWT.
“Housing NWT suggested terms for a lease that were intended to address the concerns of the NWTDC, while ensuring that land is not idle for a protracted period of time during the well-documented housing crisis in Yellowknife and the rest of the NWT. These terms were considered reasonable based on experience with project timing for other recently built projects in Yellowknife,” said Housing NWT.
Housing NWT did not say what the timeline was and did not mention what other recent builds had met these timeline requirements. True North FM asked for more details earlier this week and will share those when they become available.
McKee said that this April, the council received a response basically saying they would get the same sublease as before, for about a three year term, but they said they wanted substantial completion of the building done within five years. McKee explained that there are many difficulties within that expectation.
“We took a look and said, not even the GNWT can adhere to these kind of timelines,” lamented McKee.
McKee said that the conditions are “not manageable” conditions considering Housing NWT has the full infrastructure and the full ability to be able to do things and “we’re seeing their projects not to come to fruition in that short of period of time.”
The Disabilities Council had been looking at this project through what they called a “critical lens” to address issues in regards to the “dislocation, the consistent dislocation of people, primarily Indigenous individuals with disabilities,” said McKee.
McKee and members of the Disability Council have expressed concerns over what they say is a lack of accessible, affordable housing for persons with disabilities in N.W.T. McKee said that under the Accessibility Act, 30 per cent of housing within the housing plan is supposed to be barrier-free.
When asked back in May about the number of barrier-free affordable housing units and barrier-free market units available in the city for people with disabilities, this was the housing corporation’s response this week:
Housing NWT owns 25 barrier-free units in Yellowknife, including one 8-plex and 17 units in Mary Murphy, and leases one barrier-free unit.
- Several Housing NWT-owned units are equipped with elevators and ramps, so are considered accessible units, including:
- All units in Victoria Suites, the building has an elevator and a ramp so all the units in that building can be considered accessible.
- Sisson Court Studio apartments, lower level, can be considered accessible as they are all one level and no stairs to enter (4 units).
- All units in Grayling Manor, the building has an elevator and no stairs to enter the building so they can all be considered accessible.
- All units in Aspen Heights, the building has an elevator and no stairs to enter the building so they can all be considered accessible.
- 12 Units at Fort Gary Apartments are considered accessible
- 5 Lanky Court Apartments considered accessible
NWT Housing later provided these updates regarding the total number of accessible housing units:
NWT Housing noted that the following units are accessible via an elevator and/or ramps, but are not considered fully accessible with respect to building codes, and not being fully barrier free (for example, the showers and bathrooms may not be barrier-free).
- Victoria Suites: There are 19 units in Victorian Suites
- Grayling Manor: There are 19 units in Greyling Manor
- Aspen Heights: There are 19 units in Aspen Heights
- Lanky Court: 15 leased units, 5 have ramp access. These are leased units, HNWT do not control accessibility features for these units.
When asked how many households are currently on a waitlist for housing units accommodating disabilities, this was their response:
“Applicants and tenants advise the LHO of disabilities that require specialized accommodations/modifications. Medical documentation is required to substantiate what modifications are needed.
- The public housing point system factors in disabilities and applicants may receive extra points. When they are near the top of the waitlist, the LHO will scan available, accessible units suitable to that particular applicant, or when a tenant requires accessible accommodations.”
What are Housing N.W.T.’s plans for the lands where the Essential accessible housing project was going to be built (49th Street and 54th Street)
“Housing NWT is in advanced discussions with project funders on a significant housing project. Should the outcomes of the discussions be positive, details will be shared with the public.”
What projects are currently underway to accommodate the housing needs of those with disabilities?
“The 50-plex project, which is beginning to be constructed, includes 25 barrier-free units out of a total of 50 units. This new public housing building demonstrates a strong commitment to providing housing options to those most in need, including people with disabilities.”
True North FM reached out to Housing NWT for more details around issues of accessible housing in the territories and they provided the following updates:
Regarding the timeline assigned and the additional milestones Housing NWT said NWTDC was required to meet, NWT Housing said this:
- The lease agreement between Housing NWT and the NWTDC had structured milestones that included requiring the NWTDC, by March 3, 2025, to provide satisfactory evidence that they had secured sufficient funding to complete the construction of a 42 unit building for persons with disabilities that also included offices and retail space. In 2022, the NWTDC provided an estimate of $29 million (dated December 18, 2020) to complete the project.
- Although the NWTDC has not provided an updated project estimate to Housing NWT, a project of this magnitude would most likely be in the range of $45 to $50 million today, supported by industry cost escalation factors.
- When Housing NWT and the NWTDC met in February 2025, Housing NWT enquired to what funding was secured. NWTDC advised that they had $1 million from DeBeers, seed funding to support initial planning amounting to $147k from CMHC, and had other funding applications in process but did not provide details.
- During the meeting, NWTDC indicated that they needed at least 18 months or more to seek and secure project funding. Housing NWT advised that a nearer term alternate housing project was being considered for the site.
- Housing NWT, recognizing the importance of the NWTHC’s project, committed to provide an alternate site for their project and committed to cover all out of pocket expenses incurred by the NWTDC related to the Rockhill site.
- On February 28, 2025, after advising the NWTDC, Housing NWT officially terminated the sublease.
Regarding the out-of-pocket costs associated with the former lot, NWT Housing gave this response:
- Preliminary Architectural drafting
- Property taxes
- Fencing of the lot
- Some Legal and Consulting fees
NWT Housing reported they reimbursed NWTDC $67,000 for costs related to the above expenses.
Regarding what the suggested terms of the new lease agreement were and what were the recently built projects and timelines they were compared to, NWT Housing provided this response:
- Suggested terms for a project on a new site included:
- Housing NWT committed to provide the land for the project.
- Housing NWT offered to extend the requirement for proof of funding from 2 years to 3 years.
- Projects are more typically developed over an 18 to 36 month period depending on procurement and the method of construction and contracting.
- There have been other projects in Yellowknife by NGOs that have been successful in similar timelines.
