How one of YK’s larger landlords sees the city’s housing market

One of Yellowknife’s larger corporate landlords says it has seen “a dramatic shift in the challenges” it faces.

Earlier this month, a committee of MLAs heard from Midwest Property Management about its experience managing 11 Yellowknife residential buildings and 538 units.

MLAs have been holding briefings on housing for a year and hope to soon produce a report on the NWT’s housing crisis with a series of recommendations.

Jenni Bruce, Midwest’s regional manager in Yellowknife, told MLAs the company spends an average of $225,000 a year repairing vandalism and cleaning public areas of its buildings. Bruce said more than half of that is due to “damage and bodily fluids from intruders.”

She said Midwest writes off $150,000 in unpaid rent each year.

Bruce said Midwest tries to work with tenants on payment plans if they fall on hard times but, if tenants don’t pay, Midwest can end up in a lengthy bureaucratic process at the NWT Rental Office before people can be evicted.

She said landlords usually wait four to six weeks to get a hearing.

“When you get the hearing, [the rental office] tends to be hesitant to grant an eviction, even when it is something as cut and dry as the rent is not being paid,” said Bruce.

She gave the example of someone who could be $7,000 in arrears. If they paid $500 toward their rent, Bruce said, a rental officer might implement a payment plan and give the tenant six months to catch up. If the tenant isn’t able to catch up, the landlord would have to file again with the Rental Office.

“We tend to only be successful when it’s somebody that hasn’t paid for months and months,” said Bruce.

She said two tenants each owing more than $25,000 haven’t vacated their units, despite eviction orders from a rental officer, while appeals take place.

Barriers to building more supply

Barriers to the development of more housing don’t just exist in legislation but also come from Yellowknifers themselves, Bruce said.

“Nimbys in the Yellowknife area tend to be well-armed and are able to stop development whenever someone’s trying, so we’ve just given up on doing that,” she said, using an acronym for “not in my backyard.”

According to Bruce, Midwest previously looked to develop land at Bartesko Court to create up to 300 units, but faced opposition from neighbours.

Cabin Radio contacted Bruce for details about this proposed project but did not receive a response.

“Our owner is very hesitant because he does not want to be seen as a bad person in the community, and that neighbourhood is not welcoming to an apartment building,” Bruce told MLAs.

Implementing a ceiling on the amount of rent a landlord can charge was a proposal explored in the last legislative assembly but ultimately not adopted.

Bruce said after hearing those conversations, Midwest “immediately closed the book and said we’re just not going to look to develop in that climate.”

She argued the “vilifying of the corporate landlord” was a contributing factor to that decision.

“If government is going to come in and control how much we can charge, it limits how much we can offer,” said Bruce.

“The security, the repairs, everything comes at an expense and if we’re told ‘You can only rent for this amount,’ we don’t think we’d be able to operate.”

Near 15-percent rent increase

A tenant of a building owned by Midwest in Yellowknife has a different perspective.

The tenant – who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information related to her lease and her experience renting from Midwest – received a notice in January stating her rent would increase by $250 a month by May 2025.

The letter, which was reviewed by Cabin Radio, gave “market conditions in Yellowknife” as the reason for the increase.

The tenant has until the end of April to decide if she will give notice of her departure or if she will stomach what amounts to an increase of nearly 15 percent.

A third option Midwest presented would be to not sign a lease and rent month-to-month for an additional $100 monthly.

The tenant told Cabin Radio the increase in her rent would “substantially change” her finances but she is leaning toward staying in the building. While she explored the possibility of renting a basement unit for $1,600 from a private landlord, her own cost-benefit analysis didn’t make that seem worthwhile.

“For $300 more a month I get to not move, stay in the same place, continue to live alone in my one-bedroom,” she said.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s probably just what I’m going to end up doing because the stress of thinking about moving – and planning to move and actually moving – just doesn’t feel worth it.”

The tenant said she has generally enjoyed renting from Midwest because repairs are quickly addressed by a maintenance person who lives in the building and she has never had any issues with her neighbours.

However, she does not share Midwest’s view of a territorial rent cap, arguing that such a cap could help prevent others from being placed in her position of having to stretch their monthly budget to avoid moving.

Currently, a landlord has to provide three months’ notice of a rent increase and can only make one such increase in every 12-month period. There is no legislation dictating how much that increase can be.

In British Columbia, landlords can only increase rent by three percent in 2025. That number is 2.5 percent in Ontario, two percent in Yukon and 1.7 percent in Manitoba. Provinces and territories such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nunavut have no maximum rent increases.

In her presentation to MLAs, Bruce said Midwest had a 1.89-percent vacancy rate in 2024. She called that “a historic low” for the company, and said the 1.89 percent essentially accounts for the few days an apartment would sit vacant while being renovated between tenants.

In that environment, landlords are less likely to worry about being able to replace tenants who move out when the rent is increased.

Not a small company

The tenant who spoke with Cabin Radio said they would like to see more mechanisms in place to help tenants hold landlords accountable.

In addition to rent caps, the Midwest tenant would like to see more mechanisms in place that could help tenants hold landlords accountable.

For example, she said, tenants who rent from other companies aren’t as fortunate in receiving regular maintenance to their buildings.

She suggested an arm of the GNWT could collect complaints from residents that help to identify widespread issues, even if those complaints are not addressed individually.

The tenant watched the public briefing at which Bruce spoke and felt irked by Midwest’s portrayal of itself.

Midwest identifies itself as a division of the Maclab Properties Group, now known as Second Street Fund, which owns commercial and residential property across western Canada and in parts of the United States.

“I vehemently oppose the way that they try to characterize and market and brand themselves as this small-time landlord company,” said the Midwest tenant.

“Just because they’re not an REIT,” she said, using the abbreviation for a real estate investment trust, “doesn’t mean they’re still not this huge company profiting off of people’s right to be housed.”