Federal dollars aimed at improving housing conditions

Four First Nations are getting some extra help in keeping their homes in tip-top shape. Much of it will be made possible by the federal government, which announced in June it will provide more than $1.1 million in funding as part of a two-year program to help communities create new housing and upgrade existing homes.

Through the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the government has promised $400 million to fund a number of Aboriginal housing projects.

Communities receiving the money are the Louis Bull Tribe, Montana First Nation, Samson Cree Nation and O’Chiese First Nation.

“It’s a small amount,” said Beatrice Carpentier, band manager for the O’Chiese First Nation, which received $75,000 of CEAP funding from the federal government to retrofit fit five units in the community.

“On O’Chiese, we have built all of our houses with our own funding, but every little bit helps to maintain these homes,” said Carpentier

Given that almost all of the 1,100 residents of the community live on-reserve, the funding was critical for maintenance of their dwellings.

Carpentier said the bulk of the retrofitting involves such renovations as repairing the roofs and floors as well as enlarging the basements for more family space. Additional installations include new furnaces and flooring as well as toilets as part of upgrading the plumbing.
Besides the funding going toward the five homes being renovated in O’Chiese, the government will also provide $80,457 to retrofit three units at the Louis Bull Tribe. Additional support includes $928,085 for fixing 63 units on the Montana First Nation and $33,150 for two units on the Samson Cree Nation. In all, 73 units will receive retrofit funding between the four communities.

The government has stated the investment will stimulate the economies of these communities by creating on-reserve employment, an element that will benefit the O’Chiese First Nations.

“We’ve got quite a few projects on the go,” said Carpentier.

“For these operations, we could employ up to about 20 people. We’ll hire people like plumbers, carpenters and electricians.”

However, what Carpentier is hoping for is funding to help her communities tradespeople receive better education pertinent to their occupations.

“That’s always the difficult part,” she said. “Money is used specifically for materials and supplies, so we need some help with capacity. For instance, we don’t have any funding for built-in training infrastructure in our community so we can have an educated workforce. We do need more advanced training, and we do try to negotiate for training dollars.”

The breakdown of the $400 million earmarked for improved on-reserve housing includes $250 million coming from the CMHC, which will be split evenly between creating new housing and repairing existing dwellings. The remainder will come from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada towards servicing lots, renovations, and creation of high-density, multiple-dwelling housing.

Three years ago, the federal government also dedicated $300 million towards market-based, on-reserve housing via its First Nations Market Housing Fund.