With rent and other bills due soon for N.W.T residents, some are asking for more relief

Rentand other bills are due in less than a week for many of the residents in the N.W.T. evacuated due to wildfires. Some relief has been offered but community groups say more is needed.

Lisa Thurber-Tsetso, the founder and executive director of the advocacy group Tenants Association of NWT, said she has been receiving at least 15 calls and messages a day from evacuated tenants concerned about their rents.

"We are seeing an increase in volume because a lot of people are falling through the cracks. Rent is due Sept. 1 and they're not even home now," said Thurber-Tsetso, operatinga virtual office out of Alberta.

"People are calling in worried about being evicted for arrears on their rent when they can barely pay their living expenses today."

Thurber-Tsetso said many are struggling after being unemployed due to the evacuation and havingto pay out of pocket for hotel rooms and gas.

Some rental companieslike Northview have agreed to prorate tenants' rent. In a Thursday Facebook post, Northview said August rent will be prorated from the date of Yellowknife's emergency evacuation orderuntil the order is lifted.

"Those residents who have had their rental payment processed will have the prorated amount credited to their account and Sept.1 rent will not be processed and will be prorated based on the date when the evacuation order is lifted, and residents can safely return to our community," the post read.

Thurber-Tsetso said big players like Midwest Property Management should follow suit.

In a statement, Midwest told CBCon Friday that they request residents facing financial strains send them an email.

"We are committed to aiding these Midwest residents who are facing significant hardship related to income loss because of unemployment or loss wages as a result of the Yellowknife fire and evacuation," the statement said.

When questioned whether that means rent relief, Midwest declined to provide further comment.

Utility and carrier bills to be credited or waived temporarily

Thurber-Tsetso said some are wondering if they'll return to an eviction notice.

"People are traumatized. It's going to take some time for people to recover."

She said another stressor is power bills.

The City of Yellowknife saidit will be waiving all late fees and penalties onutility billsuntil further notice, according to aspokesperson who provided CBC News witha statement Saturday.

Pre-authorized monthly payments for property taxes will still continue.

"Similar to the utility bills, the City of Yellowknife will also be waiving any late penalties for the upcoming property tax instalment and final tax levy (for those who did not sign up for a pre-authorized payment plan), due on August 31," the spokesperson said.

At a press conference Friday night,Cory Strang, president and CEO of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC), told news media power bills will be lower as consumption drops in evacuatedcommunities.

"We are discontinuing late payments charges and penalty charges for those who might not be able to do that and providing online bills," he said.

NorthwesTelsays it will also provide a service credit on customer bills for the period of the official evacuation order.

"Customers will still be billed, but will then see a credit on their bill for the full length of the evacuation order. Normally the credit appears on the next bill after the evacuation order comes to an end," a spokesperson said in a statement Friday.

The spokesperson said customers in evacuated communities do not need to take any action to receive this credit.

"Once an evacuation order is lifted, we will credit the entire value of residential and small business services for all communities under an official evacuation order," the statement said.

$750 payment 'just ridiculous'

The N.W.T. government is also offering evacuees whose income has been disrupted for over seven days a one-time payment of $750if they left the territory while evacuating.

"That's just ridiculous," saidThurber-Tsetso,noting the average rent in Yellowknife is north of $1,600 per month.

She said the one-time payment of $750 is not enough.

Khulud Baig, director of policy and community engagement at Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network, echoes the sentiment, saying more is needed in terms of policy and resources.

Baig said they are offering support to the association as this is one of the first to advocate for tenant rights in the N.W.T.

"Folks that are experiencing any sort of violation of their rights now have somewhere that they can call and get assistance," she said.

"Not everybody is covered for rent relief and not having rent relief leaves people in a very vulnerable position."

Baig said they have started a fundraiser to raise money to directly transfer to people that are in need of immediate assistance and might be worried about losing their housing.

She said rent relief is their first priority and should be for other stakeholders too.

"My only message really is that we really need people to work out of empathy."