Housing N.W.T. officials answered questions from MLAS Wednesday evening in a two-hour committee meeting to provide updates on progress since the Office of the Auditor General of Canada published a damning report on the corporation last fall.

Dr. Erin Kelly, president and CEO of Housing N.W.T., told the committee that while demand continues to outpace resources, the corporation is making progress on the actions it said it would undertake in response to the report to improve how it delivers public housing and programs.

Some of those actions include reviewing the structure of local housing organizations, streamlining the monitoring process, and updating some guidance and policies.

“We hope that you can see that we’re serious about addressing these issues and we have a good plan that we’ll implement with the resources that we have available,” Kelly said. 

In its audit published in October, the Office of the Auditor General found Housing N.W.T. was not providing residents most in need with equitable access to housing and supports, on top of poorly managing the condition of public housing the territory. 

The report applied to the period between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2025.

Paule-Anny Pierre, senior assistant auditor general, said her team is satisfied with Housing N.W.T.’s response to the report. She said the committee is “playing an important role in making sure the plans are not just plans and that there is real progress.”

Housing N.W.T. previously gave itself a deadline for October 2027 to deliver on several commitments it made following the report, including a new tenant transfer policy, modernizing its maintenance management system and providing clearer tenant relations guidelines to local housing organizations.

Until then, MLA Kieron Testart, the committee chair, said the committee will continue to evaluate progress in the coming months. 

“We do note that these are very robust responses from the corporation,” he said in his closing remarks. “We are very pleased with that.”