Federal government to create a new National Indigenous Housing Centre

Remnants of the Kitsilano Trestle bridge on Senakw's fourth phase footprint on the east side of Burrard Bridge. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The federal government is kicking off the procurement bidding process to establish a new National Indigenous Housing Centre for Canada.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is leading the process of selecting an Indigenous government or Indigenous-led organization to start, lead, and operate the new centre, which is intended to “deliver funding to address core housing needs of Indigenous Peoples living in urban, rural, and northern areas.”

“Indigenous organizations are best placed to find sustainable housing solutions for their People. The National Indigenous Housing Centre will be the first Indigenous-led centre to manage and administer government funding directly to Indigenous Organizations, and it will lead the development of a wider urban, rural and northern Indigenous Housing Strategy,” said Patty Hajdu, the federal Minister of Indigenous Services, in a statement.

“This For Indigenous By Indigenous approach to housing will play a crucial role in closing the housing gap for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples living in urban, rural and northern areas.”

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The bidding process ends on March 4, 2024.

This centre is part of the federal government’s Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy, which has been supported by $4 billion in the federal budget over seven years, starting in the 2024/2025 fiscal year. This is in addition to $300 million from the 2022 budget to co-develop and launch the strategy.

“The future National Indigenous Housing Centre is a great step towards supporting an Indigenous-led approach to improve the housing outcomes of Indigenous Peoples living in urban, rural and northern areas,” said Sean Fraser, the federal Minister of Housing, in a statement.

“Once established, the National Centre will seek to ensure affordability and encourage the creation of new housing units to close the gap in core housing need for Indigenous families and individuals.”

Indigenous people are disproportionately more likely to be homeless and in need of affordable housing.

According to CMHC, Indigenous households represent 5% of all households in Canada but account for 7% of all households in housing need. Compared to non-Indigenous households, Indigenous households have higher rates of housing need across the country — in all provinces and territories — and are 1.5 times more likely to be in housing need than non-Indigenous households and more likely to live in inadequate or unsuitable housing.

It is estimated over 120,000 Indigenous households have core housing needs, or 18% of all Indigenous households in the country. Amongst Indigenous families in housing need, 60% are families with a household size of five people or more — living in crowded housing situations.

In the Vancouver neighbourhood of Grandview-Woodland, Indigenous residents account for about 18% of Vancouver’s off-reserve urban Indigenous population, but Indigenous people disproportionately account for about 33% of the local homeless population and 2% of Metro Vancouver’s entire population.

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