6.4.1 Percentage of children under 15 living in housing in need of major repair, by Indigenous identity, Canada, 2016

First Nations Métis Inuit Non-Indigenous
Indigenous Identity 26.1 11.9 27 6.6

Notes:
Major repairs needed includes dwellings needing major repairs such as dwellings with defective plumbing or electrical wiring and dwellings needing structural repairs to walls, floors or ceilings.
Excludes census data for one or more incompletely enumerated Indian reserves or Indian settlements.
Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the Census of Population. For more information on Aboriginal variables, including information on their classifications, the questions from which they are derived, data quality and their comparability with other sources of data, please refer to the Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2016 and the Aboriginal Peoples Technical Report, Census of Population, 2016.

Source: CICH graphic created using data adapted from Statistics Canada – 2016 Census. Catalogue Number 98-400-X2016166.

In 2016, one-quarter of Canada’s First Nations children under age 15 lived in housing that was in need of major repair.

That compared with 12% of Métis children, 27% of Inuit children and 7% of non-Indigenous children.

Implications
The quality of housing, including access to clean running water, waste water disposal, ventilation, heating, electricity and the safety of the housing structure, is a major determinant of health.1 Indigenous people, especially First Nations living on reserve and Inuit, are more likely than the general Canadian population to be living in a home that needs major repair.2 This has been linked to poorer health outcomes in Indigenous communities, especially among Indigenous children. Research has shown that poor quality housing has contributed to higher rates of respiratory infections, skin disease, parasites and nutritional disease in Indigenous children,3 as well as injuries.4

1National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. (2016). Housing as a determinant of First Nations, Inuit and Métis health. Prince George, BC: Author.
2Statistics Canada. (2015). Aboriginal statistics at a glance, 2nd Edition. Ottawa, ON: Author. Retrieved September 22, 2017 from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-645-x/89-645-x2015001-eng.pdf
3OHTN Rapid Response Service. (2011). Review: Impact of housing status and supportive housing on the health of Aboriginal people. Toronto, ON: Ontario HIV Treatment Network.
4George, M.A., Brussoni, M., Jin, A., Lalonde, C.E., & McCormick, R. (2016). Ecological analyses of the associations between injury risk and socioeconomic status, geography and Aboriginal ethnicity in British Columbia, Canada. Springer Open, 5, 567, DOI: 10.1186/s40064-016-2262-x; Kohen, D.E., Bougie, E., & Guèvremont, A. (2015). Housing and health among Inuit children. Health Reports, 26(11), 21-27.