Modular home factory begins production in Arviat

With a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the modular home factory officially opened Tuesday.

The $75-million, 64,500-square-foot facility started production at 60 per cent capacity Sept. 23, said operations director Jason Gibbons in an interview. Within 18 months, the factory will achieve peak capacity, producing up to 40 single- and multi-family houses a year.

The Inuit-owned modular home factory in Arviat is operated under Sakku Innovative Building Solutions, a joint venture between Sakku Investments and Quebec-based modular manufacturer R.G. Solution. (Photo courtesy of Denise Kusugak/Sakku Investments Corporation)

The factory employs 15 staff, including 14 Inuit, said Caroline Nault, CEO of Sakku Innovative Building Solutions, a joint venture between Sakku Investments, the business arm of the Kivalliq Inuit Association, and Quebec-based modular manufacturer R.G. Solution, which operates the Inuit-owned facility. Of those workers, 10 work on the factory floor in non-administrative roles.

“There is only one non-Inuit employee, and it’s me,” Nault said in an interview.

By early 2028 the workforce will swell to 40 full-time staff, including journeypersons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians, Gibbons added.

To certify carpenters and other specialists, the company will provide in-house training and work with Nunavut Arctic College to certify its workers, Nault said.

Sakku estimates an additional 100 indirect jobs will be created in transportation, installation and finishing.

About one-third of the factory, which underwent construction in 2023 with an initial budget of $50 million, is occupied by a heated warehouse. A cold storage warehouse beside the factory is expected to be completed by November. It will have space to shelter a full-year’s production of raw materials.

This sixplex in Rankin Inlet was built as a pilot project by Sakku Innovative Building Solutions, a joint venture between Sakku and Quebec-based modular manufacturer R.G. Solutiona. (Photo courtesy of Denise Kusugak/Sakku Investments Corporation)

Sakku Investments Corp. funded the factory using Inuit equity and partnerships with Inuit organizations, the Northern Economic Development Agency, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., National Research Council of Canada and the Government of Nunavut.

This month, the factory is producing components for nine three-bedroom houses, scheduled to be installed in the community next spring, Nault said. The company is also preparing to build two 12-plexes in Rankin Inlet.

Prior to factory completion, and with materials from Quebec, the company erected pilot projects that included two five-plexes in Arviat; a duplex in Coral Harbour; and four two-storey houses, a six-plex, and a duplex in Rankin Inlet.

The buildings are designed to incorporate aspects of Arctic living, with separate entrances for the multi-unit dwellings and cold porches on the front and back of single units, Nault said.

They ward off condensation and mould using ventilation and other preventative materials and systems, she said.

Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Kivalliq Inuit Association president Kono Tattuinee, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Gloria Uluqsi, Premier John Main and MP Lori Idlout.