A Nunavut housing agency is asking Ottawa to spend $990 million to build 400 affordable rental homes, a proposal that would see taxpayers invest an average of $2.475 million per unit, according to records obtained by Blacklock's Reporter.

The funding request was submitted by Igluvut Corporation to the federal government's newly created Build Canada Homes Crown corporation. In addition to housing construction, the proposal includes establishing modular housing manufacturing capacity in Nunavut to reduce future building costs.

The request underscores the extraordinary cost of construction in Canada's Arctic, where short building seasons, remote locations, transportation expenses and labour shortages have made housing among the most expensive in the country.

In documents filed with the House of Commons finance committee and obtained by Blacklock's, Igluvut described Nunavut as facing Canada's most severe housing shortage.

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The agency said roughly 75 per cent of Inuit households live in housing that is either publicly subsidized or provided through government or employment. About 67 per cent occupy public housing, while only 17 per cent of Nunavut residents own their homes.

According to the submission, the lack of private housing has left many middle-income Inuit families with little choice but to remain in public housing despite being employed.

Rather than continuing to spend heavily on emergency repairs and replacement projects, Igluvut argues Ottawa should make long-term investments in new housing and northern manufacturing capacity.

The proposal has been submitted to Build Canada Homes, the Crown corporation established earlier this year to finance affordable housing projects, develop federal lands and invest directly in increasing Canada's housing supply.

Housing Minister Gregor Robertson has described the agency as a key part of the federal government's plan to address Canada's housing shortage, arguing the country is facing the consequences of decades of underinvestment in affordable housing.

If approved, the proposal would rank among the most expensive publicly funded housing initiatives in Canada on a per-unit basis.