28.9%
First Nations hidden homelessness
Nearly 3 in 10 First Nations people off-reserve experience hidden homelessness, far above the non-Indigenous rate.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2018 Canadian Housing Survey.
The housing gap is a housing emergency.
Across First Peoples and Indigenous Nations, tens of thousands of families live in homes that are overcrowded, mould-ridden, or wearing out faster than they can be repaired. Here is the scale of it, and why it can be closed.
The disparity
23×
First Nations people are roughly 23 times more likely to experience homelessness than non-Indigenous people in Canada.
Source: Assembly of First Nations, National First Nations Homelessness Action Plan (2023).
Share living in crowded housing
Crowded = the home does not have enough bedrooms for the size and make-up of the household (National Occupancy Standard).
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (Housing conditions among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit).
The scale of the need
Five numbers that define the gap.
157,453homes needed to close the First Nations housing gapAFN, Closing the Infrastructure Gap by 2030 (2023)
$135B+the cost to permanently close the First Nations housing gapAFN, Closing the Infrastructure Gap (2023)
32.5%of emergency shelter users in Canada are Indigenous, while Indigenous people are just 5% of the populationNational Shelter Study 2024, Housing, Infrastructure & Communities Canada
235,000+people experience homelessness in Canada each year, and about 35% of those counted are Indigenous — a population that is just 5% of Canada.Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (Homeless Hub), State of Homelessness in Canada; national Point-in-Time counts, 2020–2022
80%of First Nations housing needs remain unmet, four audits over 20 yearsAuditor General of Canada, March 2024
What the gap looks like
Behind the numbers: real homes, real winters.
Why the crisis persists
Two problems, tightly knotted together.
The gap isn't the result of any single failure. It's the product of hard conditions on the ground and financing that has never added up.
On the ground
Homes that can't keep out the cold
In many communities, families double and triple up in homes built for far fewer people. Overcrowding spreads illness, strains mental health, and is closely linked to children being taken into care.
Remote geography, short building seasons, and the high cost of shipping materials mean homes wear out faster than they can be replaced, and mould, thin insulation, and failing systems put health at risk every winter.
The math
Funding that never adds up
Capital for Indigenous housing is fragmented across programs, short-term, and rarely enough to finance a home from start to finish. Communities are left assembling funding piece by piece, year by year.
As construction and borrowing costs rise, the gap widens faster than existing programs can close it. Without a way to bring capital together at scale, the backlog compounds, and the wait grows longer.
Beyond the headline numbers
The crisis that doesn't get counted.
Official shelter statistics dramatically understate the problem. Hidden homelessness (couch-surfing, unsafe arrangements, overcrowded homes shared out of necessity) rarely appears in any count.
10×
Fire death risk on reserve
First Nations people living on reserve are ten times more likely to die in a house fire than other people in Canada, and no national fire code applies on reserves.
Source: Statistics Canada, Fire-related deaths among Indigenous people, 2011–2020 (2024).
10,000+
Homes without indoor plumbing
More than 10,000 on-reserve homes across Canada lack indoor plumbing, a basic standard met almost everywhere else in the country.
Source: UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, 2019.
37.4%
Of on-reserve homes need major repairs
More than one in three First Nations people with Registered or Treaty Indian status living on reserve lived in a dwelling needing major repairs in 2021 — almost three times the rate for those living off reserve (12.7%). Mould is part of that picture, and Canada still does not systematically track it: in March 2024 the Auditor General found the federal government does not know how many First Nations homes are affected. We looked at what that report actually says, and why money alone has not closed the gap, in Why Funding Alone Doesn’t Build Homes.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census, Housing conditions among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit; Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Report 2: Housing in First Nations Communities (March 2024).
Data sources
Where these numbers come from
- Assembly of First Nations, Closing the Infrastructure Gap by 2030 (2023), 157,453 homes needed; $135.1B to close the housing gap
- Assembly of First Nations, National First Nations Homelessness Action Plan (2023), First Nations are 23× more likely to experience homelessness than non-Indigenous people
- Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, National Shelter Study, 2024 Update, Indigenous people are 32.5% of shelter users while representing 5% of the population
- Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, How Many People Are Homeless in Canada?, at least 235,000 people experience homelessness in a given year; and Indigenous Peoples and Homelessness, 35% of those counted in the 2020–2022 national Point-in-Time counts identified as Indigenous, against 5% of the population (2021 Census)
- Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Report 2: Housing in First Nations Communities (March 2024), 80% of housing needs unmet; fourth audit since 2003; Canada does not fully know the scale of the housing need
- Statistics Canada, 2021 Census: Housing conditions among First Nations people, Métis and Inuit, crowded-housing rates (35.7% on reserve, 18.4% off reserve, 9.4% non-Indigenous); dwellings in need of major repairs (37.4% on reserve, 12.7% off reserve; 16.4% of Indigenous people overall vs 5.7% non-Indigenous)
- Statistics Canada, Circumstances surrounding fire-related deaths among Indigenous people, 2011–2020 (2024), First Nations on reserve 10× more likely to die in a house fire
- Statistics Canada, 2018 Canadian Housing Survey, hidden homelessness rates by Indigenous identity group
- UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Report on Canada (2019), 10,000+ on-reserve homes without indoor plumbing
The crisis is solvable
Make reconciliation measurable.
Capital, technical expertise, and community leadership, brought together, can turn these numbers into homes. Partner with us to close the gap in a generation, not leave it to the next one.
Last reviewed: August 2026