The Yukon government needs to do more to help low-income families seeking social housing who have been faced with growing waiting lists for fewer available units, anti-poverty advocates say.

In a recent interview, Ross Findlater, a Yukon anti-poverty advocate, called for more resources for the Yukon government's social housing program, administered by the Yukon Housing Corp. (YHC).

'There's a need that we're seeing. There's a lot of young families in real need,' he said.

'The population has been climbing since 2001; it's been steadily climbing, leaving more people in need. Finding housing and maintaining housing is very difficult.'

Food programs and soup kitchens are stretched to the limit with the rising population, Findlater added.

'Housing is a basic human need, especially in the North. I think food, clothing and shelter should be seen as a basic human right.

'I think ideally, what we would see is for people in need that there is a very short wait period or no wait period.'

He said even with 48 units from the Canada Winter Games athletes' village scheduled to be added to YHC stock, there will still be a number of people waiting for a place to live.

According to figures from the YHC, the number of social housing units has gone up by six since 2003, and the waiting list has nearly doubled.

In 2003, there were 45 people in the city in line for social housing units provided by the YHC.

The waiting list jumped to 74 in 2004, declined to 73 in 2005, and stands at 71 in 2006.

YHC social housing stock has fluctuated since 2002/03 fiscal year when there were 324 units in YHC's inventory.

In 2003/04, the number of units dropped to 321 and to 316 in 2004/05. The number of units jumped to 327 in the 2005/06 fiscal year, the same number of units that were available in 2001.

According to the Department of Community Services, the YHC's social housing program is for individuals, families and seniors in need who cannot secure affordable, adequate and suitable housing on the private housing market.

'Low-cost rental housing stock exists in Whitehorse and the eight rural communities.

'Social housing unit rent is 25 per cent of the total household income before deductions. Many other jurisdictions are 30 per cent.'

Units are allocated according to need. How units are provided in Whitehorse is the decision Whitehorse Housing Authority.

According to the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, the territory's population has risen since 2001.

In 2000, according to the stats bureau, the population in Whitehorse was 22,810. In 2001, it was 22,526, 22,308 in 2002, 22,241 in 2003, 22,673 in 2004, 23,272 in 2005 and 23,638 in 2006.

Doug Caldwell, the Department of Community Services' spokesman, said this morning the government did hire consultants to forecast what future social housing needs would be in relation to population growth.

The consultants' forecasts, however, proved to be inaccurate.

'We contracted the report to give us an assessment of what things were in 2004 and the needs for the short-term future,' Caldwell said. 'I don't think anyone predicted the growth in the Yukon population that put us in this position.'

The 2004 report, Evaluation of the Social Housing Program, was conducted by Hanson and Associates, Linkages Consulting Group and Lorimer and Associates. It predicted there would not be a need to increase the social housing stock in the territory.

'There is an ongoing need for the program and the need will continue into the future. If the population remains stable, as predicted, there will be no need to increase the total number of housing units, although re-profiling of the housing stock may be necessary to meet changing client requirements,' the report states.

'The population is aging and there is an increasing trend to remain in the Yukon post-retirement, therefore, additional units will be required to meet the needs of individuals with age-related mobility problems and other disabilities.'

In an interview Thursday, Don Routledge, the corporate relations director of the YHC, said the number of housing units tended to fluctuate because his organization had rent supplement agreements with private sector landlords to add to units owned by the YHC when the economy picked up and more people came north.

If the YHC built units to accommodate everyone in times of need during periods of population growth, those units would likely be empty when the economy dropped and the population declined, he said.

When the economy fluctuates, Routledge said, so does the supply and demand for commodities, including housing.

'There's always going to be an ebb and flow,' he said.

Louise Girard, the YHC's vice-president of operations, said when the athletes' village was turned over to her organization, the list of social housing units would be boosted.

'The athletes' village would not be on that list but it will be. The athletes' village will be social housing,' she said.

The people living in the village will pay 25 per cent of their income in rent, she added.

'What will happen there, this will give us 48 and we know that 37 of those people are seniors. There hasn't been an announcement and the board of directors hasn't announced who will stay in the building. We want to see what it will look like when we're ready to occupy the building,' she said.

The $34.4-million athletes' village project was constructed this year for the 2007 Canada Winter Games. It was built with $2.7 million from the host society, $8.15 million from the city, $20.4 million from the territorial government and $3.5 million from the YHC.

The village project is separated into two buildings: one with 24 units going to Yukon College, which cost about $14 million to build, and the other with 48 units, which will become the property of the YHC and which cost just over $20 million .

The YHC's portion, according to the Department of Community Services, was part of a $5.5-million funding agreement with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) and was specifically directed to the project's larger building.

It was important for people to remember, Girard added, that the YHC had very different definitions for social and affordable housing.

While social housing involved low-income Yukoners paying 25 per cent of their income toward rent, she said, affordable housing could mean a variety of things, including making housing units available for sale below market value so that lower-income Yukoners could afford them.

'Affordable housing has been introduced as a term by the federal government about four years ago when they announced a national affordable housing program,' said Girard. 'It means different things in different provinces.'

Contractors building units at Falcon Ridge, she added, received funding from the CMHC via the YHC to make the units more affordable to those who were purchasing them.