A/HRC/27/52/Add.2 high health risk to their users.16 The housing crisis has been identified by Inuit representatives as a high priority issue. It is worth noting that the chronic housing shortage has a severe negative effect on a wide variety of economic and social conditions. Overcrowding contributes to higher rates of respiratory illness, depression, sleep deprivation, family violence, poor educational achievement and an inability to retain skilled and professional members in the community. 25. Trying to meet their communities’ housing needs is a major contributor to deficits and financial difficulties for indigenous peoples throughout the country. The federal Government, through AANDC and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), provides some support for on-reserve housing in First Nations communities. First Nations report that, with this funding, over the past five years they have built approximately 1,750 new units and made renovations to more than 3,100 existing units. However, as is the case off reserve, First Nations are expected to seek other sources of funding, such as private sector loans, to meet housing needs, which is a daunting task for many communities. 26. Overall, investments have not kept pace with the demand for new housing or the need for major renovations to existing units. Government representatives have attributed the lack of adequate funding in large measure to the difficulties presented by the communal ownership of indigenous lands in obtaining mortgages or financing for housing. In response, the Government has established loan guarantees, for which First Nations can apply, to provide security for on-reserve housing loans. Despite loan guarantee increases in recent years, much more remains to be done to provide secure loans for housing, both on and off reserve, in a way that respects and accommodates the communally held nature of aboriginal lands. 27. Funding for housing in Inuit communities is different in each of the four regions. CMHC provides funding to provinces and territories for housing, which in turn, decide on priorities in their respective jurisdictions. This affords provinces and territories the flexibility to design and deliver programmes in order to address Inuit-specific housing needs and priorities as they see fit. In addition to CMHC funding, some arrangements specific to housing in the Inuit regions have been made. Most recently, the Government announced an investment of Can$ 100 million, over two years, to support the construction of about 250 new housing units in Nunavut under Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2013. Still, severe housing shortages persist for Inuit communities. 28. The Special Rapporteur notes with satisfaction the enactment in June 2013 of legislation regarding on-reserve matrimonial real property, the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, to provide protection to aboriginal women equivalent to what non-aboriginal women receive in the event of a marriage breakdown, as recommended by the previous Special Rapporteur in 2004.17 However, concerns have been raised that the legislation may be unworkable in a context in which multiple generations or families occupy the same home due to housing shortages, or in which people other than the divorcing spouses may have an interest in the home according to indigenous custom. 3. Health and well-being 29. The health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada is a matter of significant concern. Although overall the health situation of indigenous peoples in Canada has improved in recent years, significant gaps still remain in health outcomes of aboriginal as compared to non-aboriginal Canadians, including in terms of life expectancy, infant 16 17 Auditor General 2011 report, para. 4.34. E/CN.4/2005/88/Add.3, para. 112. 9