Ontario Native Women’s Association   19
HOUSING SOLUTIONS
In 2010, the Board of Directors completed 
a strategic plan and identified an 
immediate gap in safe, affordable housing 
for Indigenous seniors. Swim explains 
that when she first started, she didn’t 
see the gap since there wasn’t a waitlist 
with seniors on it. They had waitlists for 
students and large families, but found that 
seniors were living in existing units, where 
they had been living since they raised 
their children and sometimes their grand-
children. After Skigin-Elnoog built a new 
seniors housing complex known as Mahsus 
Lane, they were able to move 11 seniors 
out of their existing houses to make room 
for 11 new families.
Mahsus Lane is a 17-unit development 
for Indigenous seniors and people with 
physical disabilities. As the first project 
in Fredericton dedicated to Indigenous 
seniors, it fills an important housing 
gap that allowed for seniors to access 
dedicated housing and free up space for 
large families in other affordable housing. 
The site was carefully selected alongside 
a stream, and Skigin-Elnoog is also 
developing a fully accessible walking trail 
and seating area by the water for spiritual 
meditation surrounded by trees, water and 
nature. The units themselves are thought-
fully designed, with mainly two-bedroom 
units that help honour the tradition of 
Indigenous grandparents caring for and, 
in some cases, raising their grandchildren. 
Swim emphasizes that the two-bedroom 
unit size was a sticking point for Skigin-
Elnoog during negotiations with the 
government – one they weren’t willing 
to compromise on, as multi-generational 
homes are where much of the language, 
cultural knowledge and tradition are 
passed on. “We really needed to encom-
pass our values, and so we fought with 
the government about it and said no, we 
are doing two-bedroom units – either 
you are with us or against us,” explains 
Swim. Multiple generations living under 
one roof is commonplace for Indigenous 
people, and seniors need the option to 
live with care people, with adult children 
and their grandchildren. Eventually, the 
government got on board with subsidizing 
two-bedroom units for seniors.
Mahsus Lane was designed with universal 
accommodations in every unit and energy-
efficient features to help keep monthly 
power bills low, and the building is 
accessible by bus. All units were occupied 
by spring 2025, and there is currently a 
waitlist. Living up to its values as housing 
for Indigenous seniors, the complex is 
surrounded by nature – an intentional, 
culturally significant setting – and includes 
a community room where residents 
gather for crafts and community events, 
or can sign the space out for family cele-
brations. Swim notes that the relation-
ships forming inside the building are just 
as vital as the design: seniors can connect 
with one another in their traditional 
language, and when challenges arise, the 
group rallies together to turn difficult 
situations into something positive.
Together, the work of leaders like 
Douglas Cardinal and Christin Swim 
demonstrates what Indigenous-led 
housing solutions can look like when 
communities design homes that respect 
Mother Earth, protect women and chil-
dren, and strengthen language, kinship 
and belonging. Too often, government-
funded standardized housing models 
fail to match Indigenous ways of living, 
leaving women and families without 
safe homes for caregiving, multi-gener-
ational households and the everyday 
community connection that makes 
housing feel like home. Indigenous-led 
approaches demonstrate what is possible 
when Indigenous leaders listen to the 
teachings from their Elders, stand by 
their values and design housing with 
communities in mind.   •

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