Elsipogtog facing overcrowding crisis due to housing shortage

Packed into living rooms and sleeping on sofas, people in Elsipogtog are crammed into two and three-bedroom homes, waiting for more housing to be built. (CBC)

Elders, councillors say First Nation is facing a housing crisis as families are packed into small houses

By Tori Weldon, CBC News, June 20, 2016

People in Elsipogtog are calling for immediate action on what they say is a worsening housing crisis, as many band members live in crowded and deteriorating homes while they wait for the council to assign them a place to live.

Pikangikum First Nation fire kills 3 children, 6 adults

A three-bedroom house on Pikangikum First Nation in northwestern Ontario burned to the ground Tuesday night. Three children and six adults were killed in the blaze. (Kyle Peters)

Cause of fire on remote reserve in northwestern Ontario not yet clear

CBC News, March 30, 2016

Pikangikum First Nation’s chief says a house fire that killed six adults and three children has brought things to a standstill on the northwestern Ontario reserve.

Flames engulfed a three-bedroom home on Dunsford Road after 11 p.m. Tuesday.

“The community is just shocked … We aren’t really doing much … just … idle,” Chief Dean Owen said.

Nunavut housing crisis: ‘Dire straits’ in Igloolik

Kangok and his wife Salome represent one of 102 households waiting on a social housing unit in Igloolik. More than 3,000 households in Nunavut are estimated to be homeless and waiting for social housing, according to the Nunavut Housing Corporation. (John Van Dusen/CBC)

‘The waiting period is such a long time to finally get housing. I’m getting tired’

By John Van Dusen, CBC News, Sept 30, 2015

Without a roof over his head, 70-year-old Theo Kangok built his own.

Two years ago the senior gathered materials from the dump and parts from old shipping containers and built a cabin along the rocky shores of Igloolik, Nunavut.

It’s where he and his wife live in the warmer months and he says, they’re not the only ones.

The island of Igloolik is home to around 1,800 people, not enough homes and plenty of frustration.