Northview describes ‘shocking crisis’ in NWT rental landscape

One of the largest landlords in the Northwest Territories says it can’t keep up with the level of damage and abuse within its properties.

Presenting to a committee of MLAs on Thursday, a representative of Northview said many of its buildings were losing money and it was likely to focus on regions with “far more favourable conditions’ in future.

Colleen Wellborn, a Northview regional director who oversees properties in Yellowknife and Inuvik, said many of its buildings have become “free-for-alls” where people experiencing homelessness use common areas as makeshift shelter space.

She said this causes significant property damage and leads to people’s homes being broken into.

“Many occupied units are being used as flop houses so, if individuals can’t get into the unit they want, they sleep or hang out in the hallways,” said Wellborn.

“The situation is so extreme that even mechanical and laundry rooms have reportedly been used for prostitution.”

Throughout the presentation, Wellborn spoke about the need for continued partnerships with social service agencies and a high cost of operating housing that is leaving some units empty.

She said behavioural issues and vandalism in some buildings lead to units sitting empty because they can’t be rented to market tenants.

“Attempts to rent these units in the past have led to complaints and ultimately cancelled leases,” said Wellborn. “Northview has effectively removed these units from the market and deemed them unrentable.”

While some units in affected buildings remain in good condition, Wellborn displayed images to MLAs of what she called “filth and destruction” in other units, some of which are rented by social service agencies.

“Northview does not have the ability to manage the occupants in these units and relies on social agencies to deal with problem tenants,” said Wellborn.

“Given their limited resources and internal processes, it takes repeated requests and follow-up for action against the occupants.”

Wellborn said units can be destroyed in the time it takes for an eviction order to be acquired and carried out. Social service agencies – like public housing associations – are left to foot the bill, which can be as high as $80,000 for a single apartment.

“The hard truth is that it is financially better for Northview to leave these buildings empty than to continue renting them under current conditions,” said Wellborn.

Wellborn said the NWT holds the highest rate of unpaid rent among properties in Northview’s portfolio across the country, making the territory a “financial outlier.”

In 2024, she said, Northview wrote off more than half a million dollars in bad debt.

‘Graphic violence’ on security footage

Northview is the dominant provider of residential rental housing in the territorial capital, Yellowknife.

Tenants of Northview properties frequently complain about the level of service they receive. Newsrooms have run entire series on the outsized role Northview plays in NWT housing and the consequences of that, while tenants routinely report problems about security, maintenance and responsiveness to issues in its buildings.

However, hearing from Northview itself is rare. Privately, employees have said the company has a policy of not speaking to reporters when concerns are raised.

Thursday’s briefing, held by a committee of regular MLAs examining housing as a human right, marked an unusual opportunity to hear directly from Northview about its view of the territory’s housing market and the role it plays.

Wellborn used her presentation to tell MLAs that private landlords like Northview can contribute to housing supply but are not responsible for “nor capable of providing social services.”

She said government involvement was crucial to addressing issues in the social housing that accounts for about 15 percent of Northview rentals.

Wellborn said Northview buildings have become a “hotspot” for drugs and violent crime, describing a staff member accidentally inhaling second-hand crack smoke during a routine inspection. Northview has now restricted staff access to security camera footage, she said, to avoid having more employees than necessary witness “graphic violence and sexual assaults.”

Wellborn displayed security camera footage of an RCMP operation in which a team of officers drilled a hole in the wall in order to release tear gas and force people out of a unit.

She said the unit was left “completely uninhabitable” by the tear gas. Northview had to leave doors and windows open for an extended period during one of the coldest months of the year.

“For those outside the rental industry, the scale of this crisis is shocking and almost unimaginable,” said Wellborn.

How would Northview change things?

Wellborn presented a series of recommendations that would involve amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act, which dictates property rental rules for both landlords and tenants.

She said the current legislation “lacks mechanisms for immediate action against tenant behaviour that endangers life, property or safety systems,” and the NWT should make available emergency rental office hearings.

Northview believes the legislation “ties rental officers’ hands with vague rules that block reasonable cost recovery.” The company wants cases involving larger debts to be prioritized.

Wellborn said Northview would also like a stronger enforcement mechanism for eviction orders that might prevent “unnecessary appeals and delays.”

Ultimately, she told MLAs, Northview is committed to operating in the North but future investment in the territory is “unlikely” because of what she said were challenging economics, low growth numbers and an unwelcoming development environment.

“As a publicly traded REIT, we have options. We can invest, expand and grow in regions with far more favourable conditions,” she concluded.

Speaking after the committee hearing, Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan said she understood that Northview is “in a very difficult position and struggles with horrendous damage and vandalism and violence of all kinds in its units.”

“I do sympathize with that, because obviously they are not a company that is full of social workers and that’s not their line of business,” the MLA told Cabin Radio.

Morgan also noted that some of Wellborn’s evidence, such as concern about poor support for Housing First tenants, had been anecdotal in nature and could not be immediately verified.

“I do think it is helpful for us to have a clear picture of what is happening to the tenants that might be in social housing units or the Housing First program so that, as a society and as a government, we know what is happening to people,” Morgan said.

“Then we can create policies and programs with the understanding of what people’s options are. So I think openness and clarity is important.”