Health care in Nunavik | 150 housing units to counter staff shortages

Faced with the major shortage of health personnel in Nunavik, Quebec will announce on Friday an investment of nearly $177 million to build 150 new housing units in various communities, learned The Press. These dwellings will be reserved for workers in the health network.

For months, health institutions in Nunavik have been grappling with a major staff shortage. In the summer of 2022, the crisis was such that the local health authorities had requested the reinforcement of the army. The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, went there¹.

By the end of January 2023, nurses on the Hudson Bay coast held a sit in to denounce their working conditions and the ever-present staff shortage².

Recruitment hampered by lack of houses

Meeting in boards of directors in December 2022 in Montreal, the health authorities of Nunavik had revealed that the recruitment of personnel in the North was seriously compromised by the lack of housing. Communities had, for example, been forced to cancel job postings in public health, unable to accommodate future candidates.

Despite an increase in reports, the Nunavik Youth Protection Department was also struggling to recruit enough staff, in particular due to a lack of accommodation.

The occupancy rate of health personnel housing stood at 159% in December in the North. This means that several employees had to share their residence.

According to presentations made in December by the Inuulitsivik Health and Social Services Center (CSSS) (Hudson Bay) and the CSSS Tulattavik (Ungava Bay), there are 350 houses short in Nunavik to be able to house all the workers in the health. But last year, only 42 new homes were built in the 14 villages of the territory³.

In addition to healthcare workers, the local population of Nunavik also faces a lack of housing. However, these constructions do not come under the health network.

Close monitoring

The construction of the 150 new housing units for healthcare workers in Nunavik should begin in the summer and the first apartments should be delivered in the spring of 2024. They will mainly be erected in Puvirnituq and Kuujjuaq. They will be one or two bedroom units, with a living room, kitchen, dining room and bathroom.

The delays in the construction of residences for health care workers in Nunavik have been decried in the past. But the office of the Minister of Health indicates that “levers” have been put in place to ensure “that the project will materialize on time”.

In particular, an independent audit process will be put in place to monitor the project. The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services will also have to appoint a project manager responsible for “compliance with ministerial authorizations”.

Finally, a “technical and financial monitoring system” will be put in place to enable the Ministry of Health and Social Services to monitor the progress of the project at all times.