The Canada-Northwest Territories bilateral agreement under the National Housing Strategy (NHS) was signed Thursday morning at the Legislative Assembly.

The new 10-year agreement will invest $139.4 million under the NHS toward protecting, renewing and expanding social and community housing in the Northwest Territories, with funding starting April 1, 2019.

The nearly $140 million investment is jointly funded, with $87.7 million from the federal government and $51.7 from the territory.

The NHS bilateral agreement was signed by Adam Vaughan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Alfred Moses, Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Minister Moses said the new agreement is much-needed and will be SA国际影视传媒渢ransformationalSA国际影视传媒� for housing in the North.

SA国际影视传媒淗ousing affects all of our social problems, from education from children who don't have a quiet space to study, to health and employment,SA国际影视传媒� said Moses. SA国际影视传媒淥ur need is great and our costs are high.SA国际影视传媒�

There are many families living in overcrowded homes in need of repair, who can't find affordable housing in their hometowns and can't afford housing on the private market, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淭oday is the culmination of several years of work between our two governments on recognizing the special circumstances of the Northwest Territories within the context of the larger National Housing Strategy,SA国际影视传媒� said Moses.

The NHS is the first of its kind - a 10-year, over $40 billion plan that aims to reduce the number of families in need of housing, repair over 300,000 housing units and reduce chronic homelessness by 50 per cent across Canada.

SA国际影视传媒淭he federal government, in partnership with the Northwest Territories and other provinces and territories will work to increase new affordable housing by at least 15 per cent and repair 20 per cent of existing community housing right across the country,SA国际影视传媒� said Vaughan, adding that those numbers are platforms to build on and not caps.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's just simply we want to make sure that as we put new money into the system we're adding and repairing, not doing one or the other,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e need to do both to sustain good strong housing and good strong families.SA国际影视传媒�

The agreement also frames a human-rights based approach to housing and brings a gender-based analysis to the issue, said Vaughan.

SA国际影视传媒淲omen are the first to lose housing, often the last to get housing and the hardest to house especially if they have children,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

One of the goals of the new agreement is to provide long-term, predictable funding for housing in the territory, so it cannot be broken by either government unilaterally, and will be unaffected by election cycles.

SA国际影视传媒淭here are elections that are coming and elections that will be held between now and the end of that ten year agreement, but the housing agreement prevails through that process,SA国际影视传媒� said Vaughan.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's not made fragile by elections, it's built to withstand electoral change,SA国际影视传媒� he said, which is critical for people living in affordable housing.

But criticisms that the new agreement is back-end loaded are misguided, said Vaughan.

As new housing is built and new people are added to the subsidy rules, the housing system has to grow accordingly.
SA国际影视传媒淚f you don't grow the funds over time you de-house people by inflation, you de-house people by the growth of the system and you de-house people by repairs backing into the system and causing challenges,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The new agreement comes in addition to nearly $150 million in previously planned federal housing investments though the Social Housing Agreement (SHA). Combined investments under the new agreement and the SHA will go towards preserving 1,231 existing community housing units in the territory.

The recently announced $13.2 billion National Housing Co-Investment Fund allows housing providers to access capital, low-cost loans and federal lands to build new housing, said Vaughan, and a minimum of $60 million from that fund will also go toward building and repairing community housing in the Northwest Territories.

The work of territorial MP Michael McLeod in Ottawa was instrumental in the development of this new housing agreement, Vaughan said.

SA国际影视传媒淗e has been absolutely firm that the Northwest Territories' needs be addressed specifically and not in generalities any more,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒淗e has been extraordinarily effective, extraordinarily determined and I think deserves so much credit for what we're announcing here today. A lot of the times we say a backbench MP can't make a difference, he is the difference.SA国际影视传媒�

Beginning in 2019-2020 the territorial government will develop and publish three-year action plans to set targets and outline how it will use the funds.