Nunavut is home to about 36,800 people, 85 per cent of whom are Inuit. By 2043, Statistics Canada estimates that the territory’s population will be nearly double what it was in 1999.

Like Nunavut itself, Nunavummiut are young. In 2021, there were approximately 6,800 youth between the ages of 10 and 20. As this generation enters adulthood, they need places to live where they can start their careers, raise their families, and build their communities.

While housing is a human right and a basic need, long-term systemic challenges in Nunavut have resulted in a significant housing shortage that is ripe with problems, including a lack of housing options, aging/inadequate housing stock and severe overcrowding. Without a new approach, the situation is expected to worsen.

To address the housing crisis in Nunavut, the Government of Nunavut with the Nunavut Housing Corporation launched Nunavut 3000, or Igluliuqatigiingniq meaning “building houses together” in October 2022. The goal - to build 3000 new housing units throughout Nunavut by 2030.

Nunavut 3000 Progress Report

The 2022 and 2023 Progress Report provides a snapshot of the progress made to date toward expanding Nunavut's housing continuum. As of December 31, 2023, 541 new housing units were started or completed in 2022 and 2023.

View the report

Nunavut 3000 targets new units across the four housing segments—supported, public, affordable, and market—in response to the territory’s overall affordability challenges and market need.

The plan triples the rate of new public housing units built each year and supports partnerships to build transitional, affordable, and market housing units. Overall, Nunavut 3000 plans for the development of:

300

transitional beds/units

1400

public housing units

900

affordable housing units

400

market housing units

These units are envisioned in the housing continuum which reflects different housing types, from left to right, with housing accessible to a lower income on the left and housing accessible to a higher income on the right. The continuum also shows housing options that offer a higher level of accompanying support services on the left (e.g. emergency shelters), moving to less support (e.g. assisted living for Elders) to no support / minimal support on the right (private rental/ownership).

Nunavut's Housing Continuum

Transitional Housing

Public Housing

Affordable Rental Housing

By creating new housing in all communities, Nunavut 3000 fulfills the promise of the Katujjiluta mandate so that people can call it home for years to come.