Building better homes key to fixing Indigenous housing crisis, says report

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Energy efficient homes are key to improving some health issues and solving the housing crisis in Indigenous communities, according to a new report on Indigenous housing.

Nearly one in six Indigenous people live in homes needing major repairs, according to Building Strength Through Shelter: Policy prescriptions for Indigenous Healthy Energy Homes, a report released this week from the Canadian Climate Institute and Indigenous Climate Energy.

Carlyn Allary, a research associate with the Canadian Climate Institute, says the report looks at links between housing and health that are often overlooked.

“Ultimately building better, more durable homes means that there will need to be less repairs down the road, there’ll be less health impacts that result from poor housing,” said Allary, who is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.

The report says building new energy efficient homes and using the same principles to retrofit older homes will improve health outcomes and pay off economically over the long term.

“It certainly does require an upfront investment to develop these really energy efficient, climate resilient homes, but they ultimately better support Indigenous people and they’ll save money in the long run,” Allary said.

Improved ventilation, prevention of mould and better air quality are all bonuses of the proposed energy efficient housing, according to the report. 

Kayla Fayant, energy efficient co-ordinator with Indigenous Clean Energy who is Métis from Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in Alberta, said they are proposing homes that are well-insulated, ventilated and made using high energy efficiency materials. 

That tends to cost more and take longer to build, so the report outlines ways governments can speed up processes and allow for more versatile funding options. 

Many people in Indigenous communities, like some in Fishing Lake Settlement, don’t personally own their homes so they cannot get mortgages to secure the needed funding, Fayant said. 

It all leads more people to choose cheaper homes that are built quickly. 

“Houses might be overcrowded, so there’s going to be more moisture, more mould. There’s not any ventilation systems that are taking out that moisture,” Fayant said. 

“So the houses aren’t lasting as long and that house gets wrecked and then there’s one less home and then you’re again overcrowding another home.”

Poor housing contributes to the urgent housing situation in many Indigenous communities, said Fayant.

“We need more and better housing,” she said. 

Forced to build ‘as cheaply as possible’

Allary said it’s understandable that people in overcrowded housing or without housing want to move in somewhere as quickly as possible.

However, she said governments can help speed up the process of building new, better homes with stable and streamlined funding. 

“With the funding that’s available, if they have to decide between building a home now or building a slightly more expensive energy efficient, climate resilient home, oftentimes they’re forced to build homes as cheaply as possible,” Allary said. 

Allary said requests to use higher-quality climate resilient building materials get turned down in favour of the lowest cost materials. 

While Allary and Fayant say energy efficient housing costs more upfront, the report says that for every dollar invested in those homes, there’s a social return on investment of about $6.79. 

Fayant points to information from the First Nations National Building Officers Association that says anecdotal evidence shows homes in First Nations last only eight to 10 years before they need significant repairs or demolition. 

That leaves communities stuck in a constant cycle of inadequate housing, Fayant said. 

Fayant said one of the report’s goals is getting provincial/territorial governments to work better with the federal government while also listening to communities’ differing needs.