Inuvik Town Council has approved a conditional use permit for the Nihtat Gwich'in Council to construct a child-care centre as part of its tiny home project.

Following a presentation by Nihtat Gwich'in Council President Kelly McLeod at the Nov. 13 regular council meeting, town councillors voted unanimously in favour of a motion to approve a conditional use permit for a second phase of the Nihtat Tiny Home Village central facility with a daycare.

"We believe it fits certain criteria that could fit today for permitted uses but there is one child-care component we've built into the facility," said McLeod. "It's not a full-blown public daycare, it's a wrap-around service for the transitional community that we're building.

"We're not going to be competing with the daycare in the community or adding another public daycare. It's for the the members of the transitional community," she added.

The second phase of the project will combine two lots on Franklin Road. The tiny village is located approximately 600 metres away from the station and 550 metres from East Three Elementary School. That puts it close to downtown and a three-minute drive to Inuvik Regional Hospital. Financial support for the initiative is being provided through the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation's seed funding and Indigenous housing initiatives.

Designed by Tulita First Nation artist Darren Yallee, the village will consist of six tiny home transition units and two larger shelters surrounding a two-storey child-care facility and playground area. The funding also includes a co-op vehicle to allow tenants to access services around town.

Each of the six tiny homes will be approximately 440 square feet and include two bedrooms as well as full kitchen and laundry. The two larger shelters will be approximately 700 square feet and have four bedrooms each, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. A central laundry facility will be available for the two shelters.

At the centre of all this will sit a 6,030-square-foot central programming facility that will include the daycare. The two-storey building will include an exterior deck, sloped roofs and triple-glazed windows to conserve energy. The multi-purpose facility will also have a large foyer to serve as an event space, a room specifically for family counselling, a shared kitchen and cafeteria area and two universal bathrooms. The upper floor will house the children's play area, green space and daycare.

McLeod told town council the facility would have its own parking lot.

"One of the components of this whole program is we were able to secure 20 years of operational funding along with an option to renew for another 20 years," said McLeod. "So there's the potential of 40 years of operation out of this facility that's being federally funded after the capital build.

"We've built everything, we think, into the central facility that the users of the transitional community will need to support them in their journey."

Construction of the tiny homes themselves began in October and is expected to be complete before the end of 2024. With the conditional permit in hand, construction of the central facility is expected to begin this month and be complete by February 2025, with a target for the overall project to be substantially complete by Oct. 31, 2025.