HOMES IN NORTHERN CANADA MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BE CROWDED THAN IN THE SOUTH

www.conferenceboard.ca

OTTAWA, Sept. 24 /CNW/ - In some regions of Northern Canada, as many as one in four houses have six or more people living in them. In comparison, no part of Southern Canada even approaches this level of overcrowding, according to the latest map in The Conference Board of Canada's Here, the North series.

"Almost all social and health problems increase dramatically when combined with overcrowded housing," said Gilles Rhéaume, Vice-President, Public Policy, The Conference Board of Canada. "Crowded housing is an issue that clearly demonstrates a north-south divide in Canada."

In the Keewatin census division in Nunavut, 25 per cent of homes have six or more people living in them, the highest percentage in Canada. In addition, five provinces have census divisions where ten per cent or more of the homes are overcrowded. These census divisions are:

• Northern Manitoba (Division No. 23 Churchill) - 20 per cent
• Northern Saskatchewan (Division No. 18, including La Ronge) - 18 per cent
• Northern Newfoundland and Labrador (Division No. 11 Nunatsiavut area) - 14 per cent
• Northern Quebec - 14 per cent
• Northwestern Alberta (Division No. 17) - 10 per cent

While there are Northern regions where the issue is less pronounced, such as the Northwest Territories and Yukon, overcrowded housing is more prevalent in the North. Within Canada's Southern regions, the highest average number of households with six or more people living in them is only four per cent, in Southern Ontario.

"Sleeping on the Couch" is the fifth map in the Centre for the North's series, designed to illustrate similarities and differences between Canada's North and South and among northern regions.

The Centre for the North is a Conference Board of Canada program of research and dialogue. Its main purpose is to work with Aboriginal leaders, businesses, governments, communities, educational institutions, and other organizations to provide insights into how sustainable prosperity can be achieved in the North. Over its five-year mandate, the Centre for the North will help to establish and implement strategies, policies and practices to transform that vision into reality. For more information, visit http://www.centreforthenorth.ca/.

For further information:

Brent Dowdall, Media Relations, Tel.: [phone] ext.  448
E-mail: [email protected]