Dene Nation partners with Alberta company to build affordable modular homes

The Dene Nation says they might have found an affordable solution for the N.W.T's housing crisis if government partners are willing to fund it.

Dene Nation is partnering with Eagle BuildingSolutions, a manufacturer out of Grande Prairie, to build housing units that are able to withstand harsh northern winters.

"The status quo is no longer good enough," Norman Yakeleya, Dene National Chief, told reporters in a press conference Thursday. "It's time for change, it's time for partnership we know it can be done."

The units are made with steel roofs and frames, spray foam insulation for the walls and floors, and have boards placed between the walls.

Eagle Building Solutions reached out to Dene Nation to find out whatthe most common housing problems are for people in the N.W.T., Yakeleya said, and proposed this kind of unit to reflect that.

It took the company five months to then come up with the one-bedroom prototype that's currently on display at the K'atl'odeeche First Nation reserve in Hay River.

The units cost roughly $150,000, a fraction of the up to $700,000 that the territory could otherwise be paying for other modular homes, Yakeleya said. The units, once complete, should last roughly 50 years.

Putting one of the model homes on display, he said, makes it that much harder for the N.W.T. government to ignore.

"It makes sense to have these units in our communities," Yakeleya said.

There's so many opportunities that it's going to be difficult for the government to turn a blind eye to it."

Kirk Fowler with Eagle Building Solutions said if there's interest, they would be able to open up another plant to increase production in a place that's convenient for northerners.

Hiring N.W.T. residents to work on these sites would also be a priority, Yakeleya said. That way, they can also learn how to build these units and repair them in case any issues arise.

Yakeleya said Dene Nation is in the early stages of asking for funding from both the territory and the federal government.

One of the model homes will be donated to an elder from either Fort Simspon or Jean Marie River who lost their homes in this year's historic spring floods.

They will decide how and who will get it at their national assembly next month.