This Hay River, N.W.T., company is building modular homes for northerners
CBC
A Hay River, N.W.T., company is working to change the face of housing across the territory.
METCAN Building Solutions, a collaboration between the Hay River Métis Nation and ARCAN Construction, has been building modular homes in Hay River since 2021.
Niki Elliott is the general manager of METCAN. She said the build details they developed came from a collaboration with the N.W.T. Housing Corporation.
"The spec that we function on comes from their mandate to be energy efficient," she said. "To try to take some of that burden of the cost of living comfortably within a home in the North."
The N.W.T. Housing Corporation is METCAN's primary client at the moment.
A spokesperson for the housing corp. says that purchasing homes manufactured locally offers an opportunity to create more jobs in the community and foster economic development.
Elliott said METCAN's homes are meant to last decades in some of Canada's harshest climates. The homes have high-efficiency boilers, triple-pane windows, and fire-resistant materials such as rock wool insulation.
Unlike conventional modular homes, METCAN's builds are constructed to a "stick-built" standard, ensuring they last up to 40 years.
"When people think modular, they think trailer park," she said. "What we provide happens to be modular in the fact that they can go on a truck and be delivered to the community. It's not the same standard of build."
Elliot is also proud of METCAN's partnership with the Hay River Métis Nation. The collaboration, formed between Métis Nation government council president Trevor Beck and ARCAN Group president Aaron Doyle, focuses on creating opportunities for Métis members while addressing housing shortages in the North.
The partnership ensures 51-per-cent Métis ownership, making METCAN an Indigenous-owned company. METCAN also provides employment opportunities and apprenticeship training for the membership as part of its mission.
"We have, I believe, four local apprenticeships. Two are Dene, and two are Métis," Elliot said.
She said they have also explored ways to engage younger generations, like partnering with schools to create early apprenticeship opportunities for students interested in trades.
For now, METCAN is focused on its contracts with the N.W.T. Housing Corporation. It has completed replacement homes for flood victims in Jean Marie River, Fort Simpson, and Fort Good Hope and seniors' units destroyed by the 2023 wildfire on the Kátł'odeeche First Nation (KFN).
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