Construction has begun on a new 30-unit social housing building in Hay River to replace an ageing 28-unit building on the same lot, Housing NWT announced.
The housing agency said in a news release last week that the three-storey modular building will offer 30 single occupancy units, including nine wheelchair-accessible units on the ground floor.
“This building is designed to provide safe, inclusive, and community-oriented housing for tenants,” said Housing NWT.
“This new singles multi-unit residential building in Hay River demonstrates our commitment to improving the accessibility of affordable and safe housing solutions for residents and providing more homes for northerners,” said housing minister Lucy Kuptana in the news release. “These new units will better meet the needs of residents and provide a safe environment for all tenants.”
Kuptana previously said in December that residents would be able to stay in the 28-unit building until construction on the new building is complete.
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A 2025 housing needs assessment for Hay River said 52 households were on the waitlist for social housing with most households applying for bachelor or one-bedroom units.
Funding for the new building, located on 46 Woodland Drive, comes from Housing NWT’s three-year, $150 million capital plan.
Northern Industrial Construction Ltd. was awarded a $17.9 million contract and is partnering with Taylor Architecture Group to complete the project. Housing NWT said the building is expected to be completed by winter 2028.
“Investments like this are helping address housing pressures across the territory and reflect our commitments to bringing more housing for residents of the NWT,” Hay River North MLA and NWT Premier RJ Simpson said in the news release.
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Elsewhere in the NWT, construction on two duplexes for Tulita began at Fort Good Hope’s K’áhsho Got’ı̨nę trades centre, which had its grand opening at the end of August.
Housing NWT saif one of these duplexes will be transported to the community on the coming winter road and will be ready to welcom occupants in spring 2027. It said the second duplex will be delivered the following year.
“Seeing construction begin on these duplexes for Tulita is an exciting sign of what partnerships like this can achieve,” said Kuptana in a separate news release issued last week.
“The K’áhsho Got’ı̨nę Trades Centre is not only building homes, it’s building skills, jobs, and opportunities that are felt across the territory. This is the kind of community-led approach that will help build better housing solutions across the NWT.”
The two new duplexes under construction are part of 10 homes planned for Tulita.
That is part of a larger plan to deliver 98 housing units for single occupants to nine communities by spring 2028 with the aim of addressing increased demand for “smaller housing options across the Northwest Territories, particularly for single occupants and Elders,” Hosing NWT said.
