Federal government puts $300 million into ‘For Indigenous, By Indigenous’ housing initiative

Indigenous housing projects are set to receive $300 million in federal funds through the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated’s ‘For Indigenous, By Indigenous’ housing initiative.

The funding comes from Indigenous Services Canada, one of two federal organizations designated to manage the Canadian Government’s Indigenous policies.

Jocelyn Formsma, chair of the National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Incorporated (NICHI) board of directors, stated in a Sept. 28 news release that the investment is part of the $581.5 million total invested since the winter of 2022, when NICHI was first incorporated.

“We are seeing real momentum across the country, with projects moving from concept to construction,” she said.

This renewed investment will help to “maintain momentum” built in the Indigenous housing sector, as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Build Canada Homes policy “advances its work with Indigenous housing providers,” stated a Government of Canada news release.

“A home is more than four walls,” said Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty. “It is where families build their lives, where children grow up and where people should be able to feel safe and secure. NICHI’s ‘For Indigenous, By Indigenous’ approach puts decisions about Indigenous housing in the hands of people who know their communities and understand what is needed. That is the kind of partnership we want to continue building.”

NICHI is an Indigenous-led non-profit organization that represents more than 130 Indigenous housing and service providers across Canada.

The news release states that NICHI has supported 77 Indigenous-led housing projects and helped, in some capacity, to deliver roughly 3,800 housing units and beds since 2023.

The Canadian government says support for NICHI is a part of its commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP,) something that multiple Indigenous voices have criticized governments of all levels for failing to do.

Current Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon has repeatedly faulted the GNWT for failing to implement UNDRIP in the NWT. Particularly, he has noted that UNDRIP’s articles on housing and healthcare, which are both issues Edjericon has raised as recently as the March 5 session of the legislative assembly.

Criticism of the GNWT’s implementation of UNDRIP can be traced back to 2022, when on May 31, Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson pressed the territorial government on what work to implement UNDRIP had been completed.

One of the strategies noted by then-premier Caroline Cochrane was the GNWT’s Indigenous Procurement Policy, which was scrapped in July of 2026.

Shortly after, on July 28, the Dene Nation called the GNWT’s abandonment of a proper Indigenous procurement policy a “betrayal of reconciliation.”

Copyright 2026, Yellowknifer. All rights reserved.

Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Yellowknifer.