Housing Supply Challenge Round 3 – Northern Round Shortlist

• Kawéchiwasik Development Corporation C/O YFFN
• Grand Council Treaty 3
• Nunavut Housing Corporation
• Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Urban
• Arctic Gateway Group Limited Partnership
• Pewapun Construction Ltd.
• Ecotrust Canada
• Sakku Innovative Building Solutions Ltd.
• Island Lake Anishininew Nation
• Trinity Contracting
• Northern Industrial Construction Ltd.
• BASI (Buoyant Aircraft System International)
• Vuntut Gwitchin Government
• Arctic Canada Construction Ltd.
• Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition
• Nisga’a Lisims Government
• Walker Home Construction
• Epls Store Ltd.
• Enterra Energy Resources Inc.
• Tr'ondëk Hwëch’in Government Housing
• Chou Consulting and Development Inc.
• Université Laval
• Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach
• Taylor Architecture Group
• Kispiox Band Council
• Rampart Rentals Ltd.
• Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
• Landmark Group of Companies Inc.
• Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce
• SIP Atlantic Inc.
• Keepers of the Circle
• Buffalo River Dene Nation Band
• Techi?Q Ltd.

Kawéchiwasik Development Corporation C/O YFFN

Wîkiwin Training Enterprise of York Factory First Nation: Building healthy homes with local forest

The Wîkiwin Training Enterprise is focused on meeting the housing needs of York Factory First Nation for local building materials and tradespeople for Wîkiwin (housing or homes). By integrating housing objectives with other social, educational and economic activities, housing will help to heal the community and bring new economic opportunities.

The proposed solution is to create an education model for other First Nation communities by co-creating curriculum, training programs, housing designs and building materials with the University of Manitoba. This enterprise will help to design and build cultural and environmental houses from local wood and other resources to improve housing quality, employ Northerners and reduce production costs. Having a sawmill and home-building social enterprise in York Factory First Nation will increase the capacity of York Factory First Nation’s labour force and provide youth with training opportunities.

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Grand Council Treaty 3

Creating a Nation-based housing supply trade corridor along with related infrastructure

Grand Council Treaty 3 (GCT#3) is planning to develop a Housing Supply Trade Corridor, which will include necessary and supportive infrastructure. GCT#3 is in the process of developing a Housing Strategy that will support the 26 member Nations within Treaty 3. The member Nations were consulted in 2021 to learn about the fundamental barriers every First Nation is experiencing related to the high cost of materials, transportation costs, lack of storage and limited availability of materials when needed.

The proposed solution will achieve significant cost savings. This will be done through procurement and bulk purchasing and entering into trade agreements with Indigenous Nations or corporations across Turtle Island. The solution also includes building warehouses and distribution centres in strategic locations and securing a GCT#3 transportation network.

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Nunavut Housing Corporation

Removing barriers: Ensuring access to appropriate land for accelerated housing supply in Nunavut

Nunavut Housing Corporation's mission is to provide opportunities for residents of Nunavut to have homes that support a healthy, secure, independent and dignified lifestyle. Timely access to appropriate places to build new homes has been a historical barrier to new housing supply.

Nunavut Housing Corporation will work with its housing partners to collaboratively develop strategies that will ensure a reliable supply of appropriate places to build housing across the territory. The solution will reduce the risks and costs involved throughout the housing supply chain by enhancing policies, processes and access to information to ensure that appropriate, planned and zoned land can be more readily matched with “shovel-ready” projects. It will help address the needs of housing providers to prepare longer-range plans and enhance the fit between land planning and site selection for emerging housing typologies.

The solution has a strong emphasis on social outcomes by supporting alignment with community needs and Inuit cultural values. These include:

• reinforcing the idea of land as a precious resource
• optimizing community planning to support healthy, safe, climate-resilient and efficient communities

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Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Urban

A pipeline to housing self-sufficiency: Development of a community-owned MgO production facility

In Northern Saskatchewan, many communities experience barriers that limit their capacity to develop, maintain and renew housing. These barriers include a lack of access to materials, a shortage of skilled leaders and workers and transportation challenges. This includes frequent road closures and shorter transportation windows for isolated communities. In addition, many building performance challenges exist in these communities due to inadequate or unsuitable housing, especially mold and energy use issues.

This project addresses these challenges through the development of a community-owned-and-integrated Magnesium Oxide board (MgO board) manufacturing facility near the City of Prince Albert. MgO boards can be used for many different construction purposes (e.g., interior/exterior finishes and sheathing) and provide superior resistance to mold and mildew. The facility will enable community members to affordably source MgO boards by de-risking material transportation and providing a variable pricing scheme that will give the residents preferential pricing. The solution will provide financial benefits to the community and integrate capacity-building and employment initiatives to develop local expertise and create jobs.

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Arctic Gateway Group Limited Partnership

Increased frequency and decreased cost: A multi-modal supply chain solution for Kivalliq

The Arctic Gateway Group Limited Partnership is a community-owned organization that represents 29 Indigenous and 12 non-Indigenous Northern communities. It operates the Hudson Bay Railway, the Hudson Bay Port Corporation (Port of Churchill), Churchill Marine Tank Farm and Arctic Gateway Freight Services.

The proposed solution will enable Arctic Gateway Freight Services to improve the flow of housing materials to Nunavut through improvements in supply chain infrastructure. Arctic Gateway Freight Services provides freight management services to northern communities. In particular, the solution will enable for better staging of housing cargo and facilitate more timely delivery of cargo to Nunavut in support of the Kivalliq’s short construction season.

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Pewapun Construction Ltd.

UP Fast Indigenous – a housing and training solution for northern and Indigenous communities

For the past 4 years, Pewapun Construction Ltd. has been building prototypes of housing solutions for Nishichawayashik Cree Nation. These housing kits are energy efficient, easily constructed and help overcome the limitations of the short transportation and construction season.

The solution will include training opportunities in carpentry and trades for local youth. This will help overcome transportation and infrastructure barriers during the construction phase. With walls and roofs up in days, the interior of houses can be finished by local people over the long winter.

Supply chain efficiency can be improved and save months in transportation time. This includes making components like tub surrounds and appliances part of the housing kit, making housing components in Nelson House, Manitoba and using the Arctic Gateway Railway.

Local equity will be created directly in northern communities by implementing the housing kit concept and training program. Northern communities will gain up to 25% in housing equity through investing in local youth and providing training funds directly to Northerners.

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Ecotrust Canada

Building Communities in the North: A Yukon housing and building supply cooperative

Southwest Yukon faces significant housing supply challenges resulting in housing shortages, inappropriate housing designs, dependence on expensive imported materials and economic leakage. Profits do not benefit the local economy. These consequences are most acutely felt within First Nation communities in the region.

Southwest Yukon has the resources, demand and customer base to support a thriving local housing supply chain economy. But, the lack of coordination, cooperation and innovation is holding back the development of appropriate solutions. To resolve these issues, Ecotrust will develop a Yukon Housing and Building Supply Cooperative that will serve as a sustainable building supplies retail space, coordination hub and support system. The cooperative will serve upstream and downstream housing supply entities and enterprises for all the residents of Southwest Yukon.

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Sakku Innovative Building Solutions Ltd.

SIBS modular housing factory in Arviat

Sakku Innovative Building Solutions (SIBS) is a modular housing manufacturing company. It was formed through a Nunavut-owned corporate partnership between Sakku Investments Corporation and RG Solution, an industry leader in modular construction. The proposed solution is a "Hub" factory for modular housing units in Arviat that will be sold in the Kivalliq Region to help reduce Nunavut’s housing crisis. The “Hub” factory will produce high-quality housing specifically designed for Arctic conditions and culture.

The proposed solution will develop a Red Seal trades training program to create Inuit Building Capacity in Arviat and the Kivalliq Region. This will reduce the dependency on southern workers. It will also help to reinforce Nunavut’s economy by keeping most of the investment in housing within Nunavut. The modular “Hub” housing factory will have an all-year-long controlled environment. This will increase quality control, building capacity (allowing for 4-season production in the North) and create approximately 30 jobs. It will address most of the current supply chain barriers and propose positive solutions to northern housing.

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Island Lake Anishininew Nation

Combining the traditional with the new; a locally grown (and owned) housing solution

Island Lake Anishininew Nation is comprised of 4 Island Lake First Nations located in Northeastern Manitoba: Garden Hill, Wasagamack, St. Theresa Point and Red Sucker Lake. All the Island Lake First Nations are fly-in and winter road communities. They all struggle with overcrowded housing and unemployment.

The proposed solution is to establish a structural insulated panel (SIP) manufacturing facility and warehouse. These will support the staging and transportation of housing materials during the winter road season. Locally harvested trees will be milled into square timbers to frame houses and the remaining material from the logs to be used as siding for exterior walls. Anything that is left over will be stored for people to use as fuel for wood stoves. SIPs will be used for walls, roofs and floors and all houses will include solar panels for electricity and heating water tanks. All units will be accessible and local residents will be employed in all aspects of the solution.

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Trinity Contracting

Pickle Lake logistics hub

The barriers that remote, northern and fly-in Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario face are many. They include:

• A short winter road season
• poor all-weather roads
• a lack of specialized shipping companies and large-scale construction material suppliers
• the reliance on materials shippers and suppliers that are based hundreds of kilometers away
• shippers using fully loaded transport trucks that are inefficient for winter roads

The proposed solution is an integrated supply and shipping hub based in Pickle Lake, Ontario that will service Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario. Pickle Lake is an access point to the winter road system in Ontario. The solution will include:

• a full-service building materials store
• a fleet of lighter class 5/6 trucks and trailers for longer winter road service and more frequent trips
• improvements to the all-weather road north of Pickle Lake
• fully integrated management system for material procurement and shipping

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Northern Industrial Construction Ltd.

Délı̨nę, Northwest Territories – modular housing manufacturing and warehousing facility

Northern Industrial Construction Ltd. and Techi?q Ltd. are proposing to build a large manufacturing and warehousing facility located in Délı̨nę, Northwest Territories. Modular housing units will be built in the facility in a climate-controlled environment. The proposed facility will increase productivity over the winter months and double as a warehouse where building materials can be stored securely out of the elements. It will also provide significant career opportunities for local community members.

The facility will reduce the:

• time required to access materials by providing secure and dry storage
• cost of materials by preventing weather damage
• cost of housing by providing local access to materials and a facility to construct modular units
• risk associated with accessing materials to construct, operate and maintain housing

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BASI (Buoyant Aircraft System International)

Cargo airships: Year-round, green transport of construction materials to remote Canadian locations

BASI is an established airship research design group with support and partnership from a long-standing multi-airline operator in Canada with existing northern airline operations. The pilots, mechanics, maintenance facilities and management will use buoyant aircraft to complement their existing operations.

The proposed solution is a heavy-lift cargo airship service that will deliver construction materials to remote northern communities from established suppliers at the same cost as tractor-trailers over winter roads. Modern materials and engineering allow for robust, year-round operable buoyant aircraft to be built. This sustainable technology is hydrogen-powered and its electric engines create minimal noise and produce zero carbon emissions.

People in remote locations would receive consistent, low-cost delivery and new job opportunities. Year-round construction projects would enable local people to earn trade certificates and incomes to support their families. An airship transportation service would permit more homes to be built faster and cheaper.

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Vuntut Gwitchin Government

Undoing the North’s cyclical building supply bottleneck: Warehousing to solve housing shortages

Vuntut Gwitchin is Yukon’s only fly-in community. Its remoteness creates a bottleneck in the supply chain to the Arctic community of Old Crow, Yukon Territory. An intermittent winter road is the only overland link to the rest of the territory’s highway network. Like other Arctic and sub-Arctic communities without year-round road access, Old Crow struggles to maintain adequate inventories of building materials for new homes when the road isn’t operational. There is a “boom and bust” cycle where new houses are built in years when the winter road is operational and are rarely built when the road isn’t accessible. The short building season also means that even in boom years, the community can’t keep up with the demand for housing.

The proposed solution is a near-term, scalable solution that will provide long-term stability of supply. This will be done by constructing a purpose-built warehouse that can store multiple years’ worth of materials. This stable supply of materials would mean that new homes can be built each year, even if the winter road isn't accessible. It will provide local employment through training on material storage, condition monitoring and inventory management. Ultimately, it will alleviate the supply limitations due to inconsistent winter-road availability.

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Arctic Canada Construction Ltd.

Arctic Construction Development Centre

The new Arctic Construction Development Centre is a northern partnership. It aims to improve the supply chain to increase the availability of housing and integrate government and institutional apprenticeship programs. This project will also increase the number of skilled residents in remote northern communities.

The Centre will be a new hub for modular manufacturing, specifically ready-to-move homes and will be ideally situated in Hay River, NT for all-season road and barge access across the North. The homes will be high quality, culturally relevant and resilient to the extreme northern climate. Also, the homes can be transported across Canada to northern and remote communities.

With support from local schools and a partnership with the Hay River Métis, The Centre plans to use the government of Northwest Territories’ School North Apprenticeship Program. This program encourages and promotes skilled trades as a career choice. A program of studies will be developed and integrated with existing programs. Then, with other partners, including Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Aurora College, they will ensure that the programs qualify for credit. The credit can go towards trades apprenticeships and secondary and post-secondary programs.

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Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition

Look to the Land: Hemp homes

This solution proposes a hemp building trades school. It will reduce the barriers to accessing building materials, lengthy transport delays and the high costs of building materials. Hemp grows well in Sik-E-Dakh and the surrounding Gitxsan Territories. Sik-E-Dakh is presently completing a Farm School program with Kwantlen Polytechnic University, which has allowed for successful hemp farming.

This solution will enable the community to start hemp plantations and increase local building capacity. Community members that are interested in the trades can learn about hemp building, including conventional, module and digital fabrication. New housing will be built by combining traditional timber structures with hemp filling, providing a solution that can help address the housing supply shortage. It will also promote building materials that are antibacterial, less flammable and create better insulation. It will also eliminate delays in materials arriving due to seasonal restrictions and road closures due to wildfires, floods and bridge problems. It will reduce the community’s dependence on contractors from the Vancouver area or Alberta.

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Nisga’a Lisims Government

One Heart, One Path, One Nation, the mixed-use building development projects

In the Nisga'a Territory, there is a serious housing supply issue. This includes a lack of available rental units and limited sourcing for goods and services and storage for materials. Materials to build homes can be difficult to procure and contractors often must travel over 100 kilometers to source hardware.

The proposed solution will provide mixed-use buildings to assist contractors, local businesses, residents and labourers to stay closer to the Nisga’a communities. Unique mixed-use buildings will be built in each of the 4Nisga’a communities to address supply chain issues and procurement needs in the region. Having suitable infrastructure will reduce the theft of materials and limit the spoilage of building supplies from the elements. It will also create an ideal workspace for skilled tradespeople to work and live. It will enable them to stay closer to the Nisga’a communities and create efficiencies in building housing by reducing the transport of goods and materials.

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Walker Home Construction

Building the North, by the North: Cultivating capacity through fabrication and training

This solution plans to build an expanded pre-fabrication shop with an onsite storage facility and provide training modules to develop capacity within communities. Several supply chain barriers can be reduced by using wall panelization. This means walls are built off-site in a climate-controlled facility, providing a buffer in various supply chain and funding variables. It will also create efficiencies in construction timelines and costs, improve quality control through storing materials and improve safety and consistency in construction.

By storing wood indoors, there is less warping, shrinking, twisting and rotting. Construction will be done on flat surfaces, which improves quality. By reducing construction time on site, mobilization and housing costs will be lower and cleanup time will be minimized. This pre-fabrication model fits in seamlessly with the existing construction process and market. It will also enable clients to meet the demands of government funding programs on time and without seasonal disruption. The training program will help develop capacity within communities and maximize the benefits of local housing investments.

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Epls Store Ltd.

Iqaluit Home Hardware supply store

This solution proposes to build a Home Hardware in Iqaluit, which will help increase the availability of building supplies in the region. There is currently no local store that supplies the necessary materials for building and maintaining existing housing.

Creating a supply depot in Iqaluit will enable year-round access to building supplies in the region. The proposed solution will include:

• a 10,000-square-foot lumber shed
• 5,000 square feet of heated storage
• 16,000 square feet of retail space
• 30 sea cans in a yard for additional storage of construction supplies

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Enterra Energy Resources Inc.

A community-based supply chain solution for the municipality of Cambridge Bay, Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut

This solution will facilitate affordable and culturally appropriate new and retrofitted housing projects in Cambridge Bay and the Kitikmeot region. It will use a 2-part supply chain solution.

• Material supply and transport:
  • coordinating with regional organizations to purchase building material packages
  • completing a feasibility study on using overland trucking from Alberta to the Hay River inland port
  • re-establishing the tug and barge service to Cambridge Bay, reducing the total overland and sealift distance by 4,200 kilometres and arrival time by 5 to 6 weeks
• Material storage and skills training:
  • completing a feasibility study to develop a community-owned and operated material storage and assembly facility warehouse solution
  • the facility will provide climate-controlled storage and a workshop and assembly area for constructing building components
  • coordinating skills training with Nunavut Arctic College and Cambridge Bay Housing Association
  • a photovoltaic system will supply electricity and reduce diesel fuel consumption for heat and power

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Tr'ondëk Hwëch’in Government Housing

Supply and training hub

This solution plans to build a storage facility, including offices and a workshop, in Dawson City, Yukon and the traditional territory of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (TH). The local weather can be extreme and the building season is very short. The workshop will be used to prefabricate building components and train staff and residents.

This facility will extend the building season by providing storage for materials year-round. The space will also be used as a workshop and classroom. Currently, building supplies must be prearranged and purchased in small quantities due to a lack of storage. There are no designated training facilities. Trades training is sometimes carried out in mobile trailers or inappropriate facilities.

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Chou Consulting and Development Inc.

A scalable solution providing quality modular homes to any northern community

Northern developers face barriers that increase risks, time and costs to build much-needed homes in the North. These include a lack of local qualified tradespeople, limited access to materials, high operation costs and a short construction season due to the climate.

The proposed solution is to design and build prefabricated modular arctic homes in southern factories that can be delivered to northern communities. This will allow homes to be built 12 months of the year in a climate-controlled space. It will also make it possible to purchase materials at competitive prices and access qualified tradespeople. The solution will focus on designing and building homes for the North’s unique climate and infrastructure. It can also be scalable to other northern communities facing housing supply challenges.

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Université Laval

Home as territory: A blueprint for community-driven housing production in Nunavik

The lack of community involvement is one of the biggest challenges in creating culturally appropriate and sustainable housing in Nunavik. Inuit communities need to be involved in planning and building their homes and living environments. By acknowledging that construction materials will likely be shipped from the South for a long time to come, 2 unsustainable practices can be addressed: 1) human resources to not have to follow the tight fly-in-fly-out schedule and 2) the continued use of southern housing models and construction techniques that are not well adapted to the North.

The proposed solution aims to make Inuit communities an important link in the supply chain of housing production and development. This will be done by providing a blueprint that considers the seasons, rhythms, practices and capacity-building that is culturally appropriate to Inuit communities. This blueprint will enable autonomy, empowerment and sustainability.

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Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach

Naskapi prefab factory and warehouse in Kawawachikamach

When the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach was faced with a housing shortage, it created its first Community Plan. The plan targets the construction of 103 homes in the next decade – instead of the 2 or 3 units currently built each year. Currently, all materials have to be transported using various modes of transport because the community is not connected to the South by road. In addition to transport delays, construction costs are high because of the community’s remoteness.

The proposed solution is to build a prefab factory in the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach. The project will engage Naskapi Nation members and the neighboring Innu community of Matikmekush-Lac John. Community members will have a voice regarding construction needs, labour availability, environmental concerns and prefab housing design. The prefab factory will operate in winter so that materials will be ready by summer. This will relieve pressure on the freight train which supplies communities with food and fuel. This project will hire and train local workers, offering year-round employment and providing more job stability compared to seasonal construction and mining. The project will also look into the feasibility of adding a sawmill and hardware store to supply local projects and add competition to the construction industry.

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Taylor Architecture Group

How We Build Up Here: Building housing, building capacity and building community economies

Northern housing construction often relies on labour from southern Canada. This means higher construction costs by adding expenses for worker travel, accommodations and mark-ups. At the same time, northern community members don’t get the opportunity to benefit from employment income and training in construction. Issues with housing maintenance and repair are exacerbated, as locals have limited opportunities to train in the trades.

The proposed solution is a methodology and set of building systems that will optimize the replacement of imported labour with local capacity. The objectives are to:

• maximize local employment
• stimulate the local economy
• provide community-based training opportunities
• support local involvement throughout project delivery
• mitigate the inflation of construction costs

The process will have 5 phases:

• review labour capacity in partner communities
• assess limitations and opportunities within labour systems
• develop building systems
• revise systems to meet environmental targets
• design a construction methodology

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Kispiox Band Council

Anspayaxw Casework Cabinetry and Millwork Ltd./Anspayaxw Technology Training Centre

Like many northern Indigenous communities, Kispiox (Anspayaxw) Band Council often faces a variety of housing-related supply chain challenges. Many of these can impact key housing development projects in the community. These challenges can result in project delays and inflated costs for the transportation of project materials. In addition, local dollars go to the economies of southern British Columbia communities, other provinces and overseas. Although Kispiox is close to 2 major transportation routes, it often faces difficulties in securing the materials. These include millwork products and other finishings needed to complete housing projects faster and more cost-effectively.

The proposed solution is to develop a millwork company owned by the Band Council that will provide high-quality, locally produced products to customers. The facility will also provide hands-on training to students. The millwork site will also provide products to housing projects in other northern communities in the Kispiox region and further north.

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Rampart Rentals Ltd.

Isolated Sahtu region warehouse-to-warehouse shipping and logistics

This solution proposes warehouse-to-warehouse shipping and logistics by owning and operating 2 warehouses: One in the Gateway to the North in Edmonton and one in Norman Wells. These warehouses will allow for the bulk purchasing, shipping and receiving of housing materials and supplies. This will enable communities to access building supplies at a reduced cost, all year round instead of being limited to the 3- or 4-month period in the winter when roads and barges are accessible. The solution will also enable community members to ship housing materials directly to the warehouses at a lower price than if they ordered them directly to the Sahtu Region.

The warehouses will also be utilized for programs with the first trade school in the Sahtu Region, facilitated by collaboration with local partners.

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Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

3 key elements to improve housing and build more capacity in Nunavut: Tools, materials and a workspace

Nunavut Tunngaviik Incorporated (NTI) is responsible for the implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on behalf of Nunavut Inuit. NTI is dedicated to achieving Inuit social, cultural and economic well-being. Given the current housing crisis in Nunavut, NTI believes that major housing improvements must be made to achieve Inuit well-being.

The proposed solution is to work with Inuit in 12 of the smallest communities across Nunavut. These communities lack infrastructure, services and capacity. This exacerbates housing issues in these communities. Mixed-use buildings will be constructed to serve as warehouses, community workspaces and hardware stores in each of the 12 communities. Inuit will come to these centres to receive training in using tools and learn how to do basic repairs and maintenance. The buildings will store housing materials and supplies, which will be provided to Inuit “at cost”.

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Landmark Group of Companies Inc.

Integrating northern housing supply chain through design optimization and prefabrication

Construction of a typical single-family home usually includes around 80 to 100 material suppliers and specialized tradespeople. It is challenging to coordinate all the necessary stakeholders while keeping the project within budget and on schedule. This is especially the case in northern communities where materials need to be shipped long distances and tradespeople must travel from other regions. Any mistakes or defects in materials and changes to weather conditions can disrupt construction schedules and cause significant delays. Shorter construction seasons, combined with supply chain issues often make the home-building process a multi-year project.

The proposed solution has 2 interrelated parts:

1. An optimized housing design with standardized materials and equipment. These include pre-engineered building envelopes and mechanical systems to improve energy efficiency, eliminate design defects and simplify the supply chain.
2. A scalable facility for prefabricating building components, using the Factory in a Box (FIAB) concept. This will enable builders to streamline their supply chains and significantly reduce uncertainty in the home-building process.

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Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce

Kivalliq region attainable housing financing and land development pilot project

The proposed solution will address barriers that prevent attainable home ownership and adequate housing supply in Nunavut's Kivalliq Region. These include the lack of financial supply in terms of mortgages and housing investment, the lack of developable land and high operation and maintenance costs. These factors lead to high home ownership costs compared to other areas in Canada.

The project will first focus on reducing barriers to housing supply in Kivalliq and determine:

• potential demand for attainable market housing based on business and workforce need
• local accommodation of home ownership or non-governmental housing alternatives
• available lands and levels of service required to meet local demand

Lenders and governments will be engaged to test and adapt an alternative Attainable Housing Financing Tool. The operation costs will be optimized through partnerships with builders, lenders, hamlets, the Regional Inuit Association and governments.

The solution aims to reduce overcrowding in Nunavut's housing. This will be done by freeing up existing homes for public housing and other rental housing. The solution will provide households with the opportunity to build equity in their homes.

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SIP Atlantic Inc.

Northern manufacturing of energy-efficient and durable housing panels for local construction

Manufacturing Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) in Goose Bay, Labrador for Nunatsiavut will address several barriers and inefficiencies in housing quality, employment and transportation.

Housing quality: Construction will be faster and more efficient by using local labour. Housing will be energy efficient and climate change resilient. Durable SIPs are a proven building technology used in Nunavut and Alaska that includes technology to mitigate permafrost melting in housing foundations. An indoor environment monitoring system to ensure residents’ health and detect maintenance issues early on.

Employment: The manufacturing plant will provide training and job opportunities to community members. SIPs can be constructed using less skilled labour. Community members will also be hired to maintain and monitor indoor environment sensors and ventilation systems.

Transportation: Manufacturing will take place close to coastal water transport access. Panel packages will ship as soon as the season allows, so there will be no delays. Year-round manufacturing will be possible because raw materials will be transported by road.

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Keepers of the Circle

Constructing ecological modular and passive building systems with Indigenous-led social enterprises

This proposed solution will establish a matriarchal social enterprise model led by Indigenous women living in Northern Ontario. In partnership with EcoBuild North, an EcoMap building system approach will be used. It’ll address the barriers and challenges in developing Indigenous-designed, accessible, inclusive and sustainable housing. Keepers of the Circle is uniquely positioned to support Indigenous communities, especially Indigenous women. The organization will empower Indigenous women to have a voice in the construction, maintenance and ownership of homes.

Through a social enterprise model, Keepers of the Circle will bring together industry leaders and innovators. They will collaborate on the design and construction of sustainable and customizable building systems in the North and for the North. Construction of single, multi-unit and community buildings ranging from 100 to 5,000 plus square feet will be built with sustainable, non-toxic materials. Buildings will be designed to use solar, wind and geothermal technologies to promote energy independence and efficiency. EcoBuild North will also build capacity in the North to address the limited housing supply. It will also tackle the poor conditions of existing housing to reduce homelessness and core housing need.

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Buffalo River Dene Nation Band

Road improvements for a brighter future (stabilizing roads for a sustainable future)

The Buffalo River Dene Nation (Dillon) is a unique place in Northwestern Saskatchewan. It has a beautiful landscape and is on the edge of the boreal forest. In the early 1980s, a road was built off highway 155 into the reserve. Over the years, the road has deteriorated as it has become hard to maintain because of high supply costs. The road is the only way to access the community. The road’s poor condition has made it challenging to get housing supplies and materials to the community.

The proposed solution is to use local resources and workers to build and maintain a road that can support heavy transport trucks. This will be done in partnership with Paradox Access Solutions and Tough Cell technology. Community members would be trained to maintain the repaired road, helping to keep the flow of housing supplies and materials into the community. It would also create local jobs and have a positive economic impact by reducing shipping costs.

Tough Cell technology is a cellular confinement and social stabilization product made of Novel Polymeric Alloy (NPA). Geocells are uniquely suited to construct roads, foundations for buildings, airstrips and railbed stabilization in permafrost and muskeg areas.

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Techi?Q Ltd.

Délı̨nę, Northwest Territories – Great Bear River marine freight delivery solution

Délı̨nę faces many challenges because of its remoteness and harsh climate. Currently, delivery of cargo, such as building materials, fuel, wood pellets, groceries and many other essentials is limited. This is because the winter road is accessible only 8 to 10 weeks per year. During the rest of the year, the transportation of materials and supplies is limited to air freight. This is very expensive and there are size and weight restrictions.

The proposed solution is to purchase a specialized watercraft that can navigate the Great Bear River. This watercraft will have the ability to carry a substantial payload – 20,000 to 30,000 pounds – and will have a large deck space. This will improve supply chain challenges and provide the community with a cost-effective option for having cargo delivered for at least 4 months of the year.

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