CMHC published its Northern Housing Report on July 29, 2026. The report finds that Iqaluit’s rental market remained exceptionally tight in 2025 despite modest growth in rental supply. It records a 0.3% vacancy rate — six vacant units out of nearly 2,000 — and says virtually all unit types remained occupied. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

The report estimates a household needed an annual income of about $107,000 to afford an average one-bedroom private-market rental unit while keeping shelter costs at or below 30% of income. The comparable estimates were $121,000 for a two-bedroom and $142,000 for a three-bedroom. CMHC says nearly one in two Iqaluit households could not afford private-market rent under its measure. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

For public housing, CMHC cites the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s February 2025 action plan, which reported that 48% of NHC public-housing households territory-wide were underaccommodated — living in homes with too few bedrooms under the national occupancy standard. The same CMHC report says Iqaluit’s public-housing waitlist exceeded 400 households in February 2025, while 36 public-housing units were vacant; it cautions that some units needed significant repairs before they could be lived in. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗ ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

The report says social housing made up 93% of Nunavut’s new residential-construction investment in 2025. It also says CMHC does not yet publish Iqaluit construction-cost estimates because the underlying data sources do not cover the city.

The figures put a measured scale on the gap facing households that do not qualify for, or cannot find, public housing but cannot afford private-market rent. They also show why adding units alone may not quickly ease crowding if homes need repairs, larger units are limited, or rents remain beyond many household incomes.

This is a research update, not a new funding announcement, housing allocation decision or construction approval. Most of the Iqaluit and Nunavut figures describe conditions in 2025, including January and February 2025 public-housing data.

CMHC says it aims to address its Iqaluit construction-cost data gap in future editions of the Northern Housing Report, but gives no timeline. Atiilu News Desk should monitor current Nunavut Housing Corporation waitlist, repair and unit-completion data to determine whether conditions have changed since the 2025 figures used in the report.

CMHC uses Nunavut-wide data as a proxy where Iqaluit-specific data are unavailable, including some population and household-income measures. Its private-rent income estimates use 2025 surveyed market rents and the standard that shelter costs should not exceed 30% of gross household income. The report’s public-housing crowding statistic is territory-wide, not Iqaluit-specific.

This is distinct from Atiilu News Desk’s June 2026 report on the Nunavut Housing Corporation’s action-plan implementation. That story tracked unfinished systems and building assessments; this CMHC report provides a broader comparison of supply, rental availability and affordability across Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Whitehorse.