Figures mark improvement but still show work lays ahead, says government official

Toronto Star: Indigenous people in Canada are more likely to have poor housing conditions, information released Wednesday by Statistics Canada shows, despite an overall decrease in the percentage of Indigenous people residing in homes in need of major repairs or ones that are crowded.

The figures mark an improvement in recent years but still show work lays ahead, said Nelson Barbosa of Indigenous Services Canada. “I think it’s encouraging that there has been the progress since the previous census,” said Barbosa, who is senior director at the department’s Housing and Infrastructure Service Reform Directorate. “That shows that inroads are being made, but in no way does that mean that housing solutions in First Nations communities are fully rectified.”

The data was released as part of the latest 2021 census data on housing. The figures delve into housing conditions of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit in Canada.

About 17.1 per cent of Indigenous people lived in crowded homes, census data shows, and 16.4 per cent were in homes in need of major repairs. By comparison 9.4 per cent of non-Indigenous people lived in crowded housing. Crowded housing is categorized by a home’s shortfall of bedrooms, of one, two, or three or more.

The data showed the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living in crowded homes narrowed 1.7 percentage points from the previous census in 2016. Those living in a home in need of major repairs went down 2.7 percentage points.

For First Nations people, multi-generational homes were most common for those in crowded housing, while for Métis and Inuit people it was couples with children.

Across Canada, home to 1.8 million Indigenous people, the figures varied greatly. Data focused on First Nations people showed Newfoundland and Labrador saw just five per cent of First Nations residents were in crowded housing with nine per cent in such housing needing repairs. In general, Atlantic Canada had the lowest numbers in the country.

But the story changes drastically in the prairies.

Manitoba had 36 per cent of its First Nations population living in crowded housing, with 29 per cent in housing in need of serious repairs. Next door in Saskatchewan, the figure came in at 34 per cent and 25 per cent. The disparity between Manitoba, Saskatchewan and other regions of Canada shows there are different needs in each community, Barbosa said.

He said the federal government has increased its funding of housing initiatives for Indigenous communities in recent years. “There has been significant investment made in the interim period from one census to the other,” Barbosa said.

The federal government as a whole has spent $6.8 billion on Indigenous housing over the last six years, he said. Most of the money coming from Indigenous Services Canada, about $150 million annually, flows directly through First Nations on reserve, he said. Canada’s 2022 budget committed $2.4 billion for housing on reserve over five years.

Barbosa said the financial commitments are not only prolonged, but are also increasing for Métis, Inuit as well as First Nations. “Progress is partly money and progress is also partnership,” he said. “I would see it as a balancing act, even though there’s a ways to go in bridging the gap.”

The government of Saskatchewan said it has more than 50 active agreements with more than 20 Métis organizations for 700 housing units in the province. Saskatchewan is also working to increase off-reserve housing options for Indigenous people with a $70-million investment, according to the Ministry of Social Services.

Manitoba’s finance department said it does not have data for Indigenous people living off reserve in the province.

Multi-generational homes were most common for those in crowded housing, while for Métis and Inuit people it was couples with children