The Yukon government is looking for ideas to solve the territory's affordable rental housing crisis.

A request for qualifications, issued Wednesday afternoon, asks businesses and NGOs to submit project proposals to create and operate affordable rental units.

Brad Cathers, the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corp., said in a release the government intends to use the remaining $13 million of its Northern Housing Trust monies to stimulate construction of affordable rental units in the territory.

"We encourage proponents to consider inventive housing solutions that will endure for the long term, as there will always be a need for affordable rental accommodations,” Cathers said in the release.

The minister was not made available for an interview with the Star before deadline this afternoon.

Kristina Craig, the co-ordinator of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, said today the organization is pleased with the announcement.

"We've been talking about the need for more affordable rental stock for a long time,” she said. "So, no time like the present.”

But both opposition parties raised significant concerns.

"It's kind of like Groundhog Day, honestly, I'm like, ‘woah, this looks really familiar,'” Kate White, the NDP's housing critic, said this morning.

"What's different from what they did with Lot 262, where people came forward with innovative ideas for affordable rentals and the government didn't move forward?” she asked.

In the spring of 2012, the government tendered a project that was to include 30 affordable rental units, to be developed near the intersection of Range Road and Mountainview Drive.

The project was abandoned after the government received only two bids.

At the time Cathers, then minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, said neither bid met the minimum requirements. Both asked for subsidies beyond the scope of the tender, he said.

Now, instead of asking the public for their innovative ideas, White said it would be "fantastic” if the government brought forward its own, evidence-backed solution to shop around.

The Takhini-Kopper King MLA also wondered about the timing of the announcement, noting the government's housing strategy is still in development.

"I've got good communication with different groups in the community, and I know that there is a collaborative effort going forward on the housing strategy, and that gives me hope,” she said.

"But to talk about bringing in private developers and construction companies right now without that strategy being done, I wonder if it will cover the full continuum or if this is just kind of a feel-good, it's almost winter, so let's talk about housing.”

Michael Hale, the housing corporation's vice-president of operations, said the government "can't stop operating and make people wait while we develop a plan for the next 10 years.

"It's not in any way trying to upset that process; we're simply trying to make sure while we develop a housing action plan for the next 10 years we're still paying attention to the present,” he added.

Sandy Silver, the interim leader of the Liberal party, raised frustrations that the government's been sitting on the remaining northern trust money for seven years.

"Any time you asked in the legislative assembly ‘why aren't you spending this money?' the answers that we got back, all opposition parties got back, was that ‘this is complicated; you can't just spend this money, it's earmarked for very specific funding,'” Silver said.

"If you're going to get a request for qualifications that should have happened seven years ago. But we've been waiting and waiting and waiting for them to give us a plan and then at the very last possible phase they say ‘well, here's our plan, we're back to square one,” he said.

"This come downs to Yukon Party government classic mismanagement of capital money.”

The request for qualifications will close Nov. 19.

Any projects funded under this process must be able to guarantee affordable rental rates for at least a decade.

The housing corporation has adopted the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s definition of "affordable,” according to Wednesday's release.

That means the rental rates must remain at or below 95 per cent of the median rates. The median rent for Whitehorse in June 2013 was $875 monthly.

Proponents must also be able to provide 50 per cent of the funding for the project, but Hale explained that could come in the form of land, or commercial partnerships.

The only stipulation is that the northern trust money can only be used for the housing component of any project.

Following the request for qualifications, successful proponents will be asked to participate in a more formal and detailed request for proposals process.

During this stage, proponents will receive a stipend to help offset the cost of developing the proposal, Hale said, noting the government's intention to equalize the process for private sector and NGO participants.

In 2006, the Yukon government received $50 million in funding from the Northern Housing Trust.

Of that, $32.5 million was shared among Yukon First Nations, while the territory retained the remaining $17.5 million.

Betty's Haven, a second-stage housing project for women and their children fleeing abuse, received $4.5 million of the territory's portion of the funding.

The government has yet to spend the remaining $13 million.

"Yukon Housing Corporation's five-year strategic plan is focused on helping to alleviate the most pressing housing challenges,” said Claire Derome, the corporation's board chair.

"I look forward to reviewing the innovative ideas put forward by proponents to this request for qualifications and proposals.”