Nunavut Housing Corporation

Staff Housing

Through the Staff Housing Program, the NHC provides subsidized rental housing to term and indeterminate employees to assist in the recruitment and retention of staff and to facilitate the provision of programs and services to Nunavummiut.

What is GN Staff Housing?

The NHC provides property management services to the Government of Nunavut (GN) for the administration of the GN Staff Housing Portfolio. As such, the NHC coordinates the successful housing of GN employees by implementing the GN Staff Housing Policy and liaising between landlords, staff housing agents and the tenants.

Access to staff housing is not a condition of employment and is extended to employees as a benefit, subject to pressures of supply and demand.

How Does GN Staff Housing Work

GN Staff Housing is administered at several levels and involves the following key players:

  • The Housing Allocation Committee
  • The Property Management Team

The Housing Allocation Committee

This committee is responsible for assigning Staff Housing units according to the GN Staff Housing Policy. It meets on a weekly basis for the allocation of vacant units according to the priority list, and consists of representatives from NHC and various other governmental departments.

The Property Management Team

This team is made up of the Property Management Officer and the Accommodations Clerk in each district. They are responsible for liaising between the NHC and the community Staff Housing Agent, keeping track of vacancies and unit status, and supporting the allocation committee with accurate vacancy inventories.

The Staff Housing Agent is the NHC’s staff housing community partner and acts as the local property manager on behalf of the NHC, as well as being responsible for the proper maintenance of GN Staff Housing units, “move-ins and outs”, and reporting tenant damages.

All staff housing tenants must pay rent, regardless of their income. Monthly rental amounts are calculated using a formula based on the size of rentable space in the unit multiplied by a base rent rate.

Adjustments to rent are then calculated for the extra shelter costs which include: furniture, heat, water, sewage, and garbage. Electricity and telephone services are usually the direct responsibility of the tenant, and tenants are responsible for paying directly to the service providers all utility costs not covered by their lease/tenancy agreement.

Staff Housing rent is collected through payroll deduction of government employees on a bi- weekly basis, but is calculated to recover the monthly rate only. To safeguard housing affordability for its staff, the GN also ensures that employees pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent through the Rental Assistance Program.