Frozen promise: billions for Indigenous housing remain up in the air

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This article was published 06/03/2025 (233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Roughly $2.5 billion meant to fund housing for Indigenous people living off reserve in urban, rural and northern areas across Canada is frozen in limbo, with zero dollars spent, about two years after the money was first announced.

The money is set to be distributed by a new national Indigenous housing centre. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation is responsible for selecting the Indigenous-led group that will launch and operate the centre, but the federal Crown corporation’s process has been subject to significant delays.

CMHC released a request for proposal in January 2024. The successful group was slated to be publicly named in June, according to a procurement document, yet no announcement has been made.

At a news conference Thursday in Ottawa, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association’s Indigenous Caucus called on the federal government to immediately name the Indigenous housing organization that will administer the multibillion fund and release the money to that organization without additional delays.

Margaret Pfoh, the association’s board president and chief executive officer of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association in B.C., told reporters time is of the essence.

“With tariffs coming from the United States and a federal election on the horizon, Indigenous housing providers are poised to lose yet another construction season because of government’s inaction,” said Pfoh, who is Tsimshian from the Ginaxgiik tribe.

“Indigenous peoples are forced to live in their cars or tents. Vulnerable women are staying in dangerous relationships because they’re scared of becoming homeless if they leave,” she said, adding that one in 15 Indigenous people experience homelessness in their lifetime.

In Winnipeg, there are more than 700 people living in encampments, with the city’s shelters completely full, said Jackie Hunt, chair of the association’s Indigenous caucus and a senior director with End Homelessness Winnipeg, who joined Pfoh in Ottawa.

“Our last point in time count shows us that 75 per cent of those individuals experiencing houselessness are Indigenous, and primarily First Nations,” said Hunt, who is Red River Métis.

“There are dozens and dozens of shovel-ready projects that could move ahead today if the funding were available. Indigenous housing providers and advocacy groups are ready, willing and able to build homes for those who need it,” she added.

A recent Free Press investigation into a separate fund for Indigenous housing — specifically intended to build shelters for women and children facing violence — found it has also been subject to significant delays. That fund, which is administered by CMHC, has released around a third of its $724.1-million allotment.

Seven years ago, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association’s Indigenous Caucus developed a vision for an urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing strategy, which included the creation of a “For Indigenous, By Indigenous” national housing centre. By 2021, these goals had made their way into the then-federal housing minister’s mandate letter, with CMHC responsible for the strategy’s overall implementation.

According to a briefing document for then-housing minister Sean Fraser, ahead of a 2024 committee appearance, $4.3 billion in federal funds was allocated to the strategy. That included $300 million, set aside in the 2022 budget, as well as an additional $4 billion announced in the 2023 budget, with that money set to be distributed over seven years, starting in 2024-25. That first year will conclude on March 31.

Of the $4 billion, 70 per cent ($2.8 billion) will be distributed by the new, national Indigenous housing centre, the briefing says. The remaining 30 per cent ($1.2 billion) will be distributed by Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. is distributing the vast majority of the initial $300 million. Both Pfoh and Hunt said that from what they’ve seen, that organization has been very effective in delivering funds.

Leonard Catling, a spokesperson for CMHC, said that by March 31, Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada will have jointly spent $87.1 million out of their $1.2 billion and confirmed no money meant to flow to the centre has been spent.

However, his response raised questions about the government’s overall investment. Catling cited the amount owing to the national Indigenous housing centre as approximately $2.5 billion, rather than $2.8 billion, as has been previously specified, including in the 2024 briefing document. A request for further clarification was not received by press time.

Catling did not answer the Free Press’s question about the reasons for CMHC’s delay in selecting a group to lead the new centre, but said the Crown corporation is in the process of “negotiating a service agreement as part of this RFP.”

“We do not know what the delay is — we would sure love to know, and more than that, we would like the money released,” Hunt told the Free Press. “It was a promise.”

marsha.mcleod@freepress.mb.ca