Housing chief uses shipping-container homes to tackle problem
LONDON: Shipping containers have once again formed the base upon which low cost housing outcomes have been achieved.
When he was elected chief of Norway House Cree Nation in 2018, Larson Anderson knew at least one issue he’d have to confront: housing.
In the growing northern community, with an on-reserve population of more than 8,000, there was a housing deficit of what he estimated to be 500 residences. The number of homes and funding Norway House qualified for through federal programs, meanwhile, was not keeping pace with the demonstrated need.
Anderson felt stuck. “It was no different, from Liberals to Conservatives,” he said. “It has been an issue for decades.”
Maybe, he thought, he was looking at things the wrong way. That’s when he started thinking about shipping containers, or C-cans, using the transport containers as a cheaper, mould-resistant, energy-efficient alternative.
In the past, Anderson was skeptical of the concept, but he’d seen it used successfully in other parts of the world. Without much of a local market, he thought it might also make a solid business venture if the nation could create a market itself.
Anderson was introduced to Shane and Tyler Prevost, brothers who ran a company called Cobra Structures, which to that point had mostly done renovation work and some container-based construction for corporate clients and governments, including domed warehouses.
The two parties hit it off, with the brothers interested in tackling housing issues in northern communities. “They had the knowledge of the north, and we had the knowledge of construction,” Shane Prevost said.
A joint venture agreement was struck, and Bison Container Homes was born in 2019, with ambitious plans already laid for Norway House and beyond.
Now, about two years later, those plans are nearing fruition. A development of 28 ready-to-move, prefabricated container homes, made up of 12 duplexes and four single homes, is almost complete: 18 of the homes are on site, with 12 occupied and the remainder set to arrive by the end of the year. By the time the development is complete, about 70 band members will be living in the homes, which range in size from one bedroom to four, with accessible units for seniors. Community feedback also helped the company fine-tune the layout, and make design choices — all of the moms wanted tubs instead of standup showers, Prevost said — that fit the groups the project is aimed at.
The homes all utilize solar panels and are well-insulated, reducing significantly hydro bills and long-term energy costs, Prevost said.
That was vital to the projects getting off the ground: more than $4 million in federal funding was secured through the Rapid Housing Initiative, a program whose approval criteria emphasizes energy efficiency as well as mould and rot resistance, Anderson said. Each home also has a built-in fire suppression system in the kitchen, Prevost said.
The number of homes is significantly higher, and for a lower cost, than the number Norway House had qualified for in recent years. Two years in a row, that number was four, Anderson said. And by operating with more control, there is less waiting around.
For the Prevost brothers, a key concern was how to not only construct the homes efficiently but how to deal with the logistics of transporting them: by the time they’re sent off from their workshop in Garson, the containers are about 95 per cent complete, and can be transported by road, rail, ice road, or on barges across bodies of water. “We’ve shipped them just about every way now,” said Shane Prevost.
The company has also struck a deal with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, located about 200 kilometres north of The Pas, to address that community’s housing needs, developing 30 bachelor-sized homes aimed at single people or couples without children.
In addition to housing, the company has been responsible for the construction of a domed gymnasium in the Mission Industrial area of Norway House, plus outdoor hockey rinks shielded from the community’s wicked winter wind-chills. In the spread-out community, having more available recreational opportunities also helps tackle the prevalence of diabetes, Anderson said. Meanwhile, three active sawmills in Norway House are producing materials for timber-built bachelor homes, creating new employment opportunities.
With all that going on, work is also underway on the federally funded, $100-million Norway House health centre.
“My goal is to make things better for my nation, and others, and if that means finding different solutions, and new partners with good work ethic, then that’s what we will do,” Anderson said.
Other First Nations have come calling, Anderson said, as many face similar housing problems, in terms of availability, cost and quality. And Bison, having navigated the application processes for funding and grants, offers those services as well. Last summer, the company set up a two-bedroom showhome at the conference for the Keewatin Tribal Council, which also garnered some interest.
The expanding interest has also meant Bison itself has had to expand: currently operating out of an office in Lockport and a workshop in Garson, the company announced earlier this year that it would be operating wholly out of a new facility in Beausejour by the end of the year. That new facility expands the company’s footprint from about 8,000 square feet to nearly 22,000, as well as 10 acres of laydown space. There, the company is also working on steel-frame construction.
In terms of staffing, Bison’s complement is currently at 40 employees, however, in the coming weeks, Prevost said about 20 new positions will be opening up.
A reason for the company’s success thus far, Prevost said, is that it is truly a joint venture in every sense of the title. “It’s very nice to work with them,” he said. “In the past, these types of things weren’t so much of a relationship as they were a sale. Now, it’s a partnership.”
Anderson shares that outlook, and is proud of the progress made in two short years, although he is aware there’s still work to be done.
“When I’m there, in person, I’m in a bit of disbelief,” he said. “This isn’t the typical way things have been built. But it is a very nice feeling. I know a couple of the tenants and they’re very satisfied.
“The way I look at this, we have to be solution-driven,” Anderson said. “We might not be able to solve these matters on our own, but when you find the right people and team, the chances of solving things are there.”
