Iqaluit men's shelter stays open with government help

The Oqota men's shelter in Iqaluit will stay open, thanks to an agreement that will see the Nunavut government take over the homeless shelter from the Salvation Army next year.

The Salvation Army will continue running the shelter for the next six months, with the support of the territorial government.

Followingthe six-month transition period, the government will take over operations of the facility through a revitalized version of the Oqota Society.

"Both parties were able to look and say the first priority are the individuals that are there, and how can we work together to make sure that that service isn't interrupted for them," Hunter Tootoo, the territory's minister responsible for homelessness, told CBC News on Thursday.

"So I'm very pleased that we've been able to come to a mutual agreement with them, to be able to work through a transition period to ensure that there's smooth operations at the shelter."

Twenty beds are available for homeless men at the Oqota shelter, which the Salvation Army opened in 2006.

On verge of closing

The facility was on the verge of closing by the end of June, as it was running a deficit and paying more than $10,000 a month in rent.

Maj. Fred Waters, the Salvation Army's area commander in the Prairies and the Northwest Territories, said the organization cannot afford to keep the Iqaluit shelter running.

"Our donations are down, funding is more of a struggle," Waters said. "We're put in a position where we got to begin to make some decisions around this."

Salvation Army officials and the Nunavut government met last week to discuss the shelter's future, trying to find a way to keep the facility open beyond June 30.

While both sides say they're pleased to see the shelter stay open, the territorial government has some number-crunching to do: Tootoo said there is only $200,000 budgeted for homelessness, and shelters for both men and women in Iqaluit are looking for support.

Tootoo said the government is looking at ways to make operation of the Oqota shelter more affordable.

"To me, it's more of ... a move in self-reliance. We don't have to count on someone from somewhere to come in and look after us," he said.

"This is something that we're quite capable of doing ourselves as a territory and as a community."