Homeless in Igloolik: Family of 5 lives in a tent

With nowhere else to go, a tent has become NeeveNutarariaq'sonly option.Amid a row of houses, including a few vacant ones,Nutarariaq'sfamily of five hasset up home.

"It's just terrible living out here in a tent with my three kids," the21-year-old said.

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The mother of three andher boyfriend werekicked out of his parents' home. The couple got into a fight and found themselves out on the street.

Above the Arctic Circle in thesmall hamlet of Igloolik, Nunavut,housingoptions are limited.

Her parents told her theydidn't have room for another family, so Nutarariaq moved them into a tent.

To keep warm, the family uses asmall camping stove.One night it fell over,burning a hole into the floor.

"And that was right in frontof my children so it was kind of scary," Nutarariaqsaid.

She says she doesn't know what todo when winter hits.

Similar stories play out across the territory's 25 communities.More than 3,000 households in Nunavut are estimated to be homeless, waiting for government-assisted housing, according to the Nunavut Housing Corporation.

The head of the territory's housing corporation estimates it will take at least $1 billion to meet the demand across the territory.

Empty houses

Down the street from Nutarariaq'stent sitsa few empty housing apartments belonging to the Government of Nunavut.

"The GN's saving those units for staff but it seems noone wants to work in Igloolik," said the Mayor ofIgloolik, Peter Ivalu.

"Wesee theseunits, vacant units,year in, year out."

The Nunavut Housing Authority say thevacancies are necessary to ensure existing staff housing is available "to meet the mostpressing GN operational needs at any given time."

Ivalu knows firsthand that options are limited if you can't squeeze yourself into the already overcrowdedhomes in town.

"You either live in a tent, or live in a cabin," he said.

That's what he did when hemoved back to Igloolikfrom Iqaluitin 2009.It's obvious to Ivalu thatNunavut needs more housing.

"We can't do it without the federal assistance but I'd also like to see privatebusinesses build more houses," he said, adding he couldn'trecall the last time any private companybuilthomes in the hamlet.

"Unless we look at more options on how we can alleviate the housing shortage,we'll continue to see a housing shortage."