CMHC published its Northern Housing Report on July 29, 2026, examining housing conditions in Iqaluit, Whitehorse and Yellowknife. For Iqaluit, it reports that the private rental vacancy rate stayed at 0.3% for the third straight year in 2025. CMHC says the rate represented six vacant units out of nearly 2,000, while the median rent across all types of rental housing reached $3,025. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

The report points to a housing shortage that remains severe even where demand has moderated. CMHC says overcrowding and limited supply kept nearly all Iqaluit rental units occupied. It also says Nunavut’s real investment in new residential construction was 37% below its 2021 level in 2025, and that public or subsidized housing accounted for about 93% of new residential construction investment in the territory. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

CMHC expects private-market housing supply to rise in Iqaluit in 2026 because units are under construction. But it says the additional activity is not expected to significantly close the gap between per-capita housing starts in the territories and the rest of Canada. This is a research finding and forecast, not a funding announcement, housing approval or construction commitment. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

CMHC reports that Iqaluit had 20 land-title transfers in 2025, down from 24 in 2024. It says roughly 45% of Iqaluit households could not afford private-market rent under its 30%-of-income measure, and notes that its income figures for Iqaluit use Nunavut-wide household-income data because Iqaluit-specific income data were unavailable. The report also says it does not publish Iqaluit construction-cost estimates because comparable source data do not cover the city. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗