Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare Responds to Auditor General of Canada’s Report, Federal Government Failing on Housing Needs for First Nations Communities

Press Release

(Toronto, ON – March 21, 2024) Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare has released the following statement following this week’s announcement from the Auditor General of Canada, outlining how Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has failed in their mandated duties to improve housing quality in First Nations.

Despite investments in housing infrastructure in the last decade, there has been no tangible improvement in living quality, the Auditor General found.

“This report affirms what we have been saying for years — Canada has failed in ensuring that First Nations have access to safe, affordable and adequate housing,” said Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare. “This report is another grim reminder that our people and our wellbeing are an afterthought. We have been asking the government to honour our inherent right to self-government. That includes housing. Enough is enough.”

In 2010, Ontario Chiefs-in-Assembly directed the Chiefs of Ontario to study a path towards the transfer of care and control of on-reserve housing and infrastructure from the hands of the government to First Nations. Since then, the Chiefs of Ontario continue to undertake work on this file and map out potential future avenues for the transfer of care and control of housing upon the fulfilment of the current backlog in housing affecting First Nations.

“Ontario First Nations know what their communities need and how to provide it. They just need the opportunity to do so. We look forward to the day when Nations control their own destinies and wellbeing,” said Ontario Regional Chief Hare.

In 2019, Parliament passed the National Housing Strategy Act, which recognizes housing as a human right. ISC Minister Patty Hajdu has also been mandated to close the infrastructure gap by 2030. However, the Auditor General report shows that it is unlikely that they will meet their housing targets and little has improved for First Nations in Ontario.

“There is no plan in place to tackle this issue,” said Auditor General Karen Hogan at a March 19 press conference. “Time after time, whether in housing … or other critical areas our audits of federal programs to support Canada’s Indigenous peoples reveals a distressing and persistent pattern of failure.”

The auditor general found that, nationwide, 80 per cent of the work needed to close the housing gap is incomplete. More than 55,000 new houses are needed in First Nations across Canada to accommodate current and projected populations. Less than 4,400 have been built so far.  Additionally, over 80,000 houses in First Nations across the country need repairs but just 5,600, or seven per cent, have received any.

Hogan said she was “discouraged” that this latest report is the fourth since 2008 to highlight the government’s slipshod actions to address the housing crisis in First Nations yet little has changed.

Citing an Assembly of First Nations report, the Auditor General found a $135.1 billion need for First Nations housing on a national scale. Data and reporting are not yet complete for First Nations in Ontario, but initial estimates for housing needs in the province point to a $25.8 billion gap. Further information will be provided when the Ontario-specific research is complete.

“It is refreshing to see that the frustrations that we have been feeling for decades are spilling over into the mainstream consciousness, and we welcome the remarks made by the Auditor General,” Ontario Regional Chief Hare said. “However, housing is a basic and fundamental right. It is incomprehensible that in a rich country like Canada, First Nations in Ontario continue to deal with inadequate and overcrowded housing.”

Additionally, the Auditor General’s report noted that while the serious, potentially deadly consequences of mould in housing are well known, its prevalence in First Nations is not known, as the federal government has failed to document or study how many homes currently have mould in them — which is a violation of its own mandates and policies.

“The fact that they have not even begun to try to understand the scope of the problem says it all — actions speak louder than words,” Ontario Regional Chief said. “Their actions demonstrate the lack of urgency in addressing serious shortcomings that have profound impacts on our Nations.”

Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare (Gwiingos)

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The Chiefs of Ontario support all First Nations in Ontario as they assert their sovereignty, jurisdiction and their chosen expression of nationhood. Follow Chiefs of Ontario on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @ChiefsOfOntario.

Media Contact:

Christopher Hoyos
Director of Policy and Communications
Policy and Communications Sector
Chiefs of Ontario
Telephone: (416) 579-4998
Email: Chris.Hoyos@coo.org

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