Fort Good Hope company has a plan for made-in-the-N.W.T. homes. It just took its first step

In Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., work is underway on a modular home construction centre that local leaders say will help the community meet housing and employment goals.

The Home Construction Centre is being built by Ne'Rahten Developments Ltd, the business arm of Yamoga Land Corporation, in partnership with Fort Good Hope's K'asho Got'ı̨nę Housing Society and Yellowknife-based Taylor Architecture Group. 

Arthur Tobac, the business manager for Ne'Rahten Developments, told CBC the end goal is for the centre to become a space where community members can work full-time to create affordable modular homes for residents of Fort Good Hope and other Sahtu communities.

"If it's made in the North, the money stays here in the North. All that we are doing, the money will stay in the community. The economy will grow, and I think that that's what our vision is," he said.

Ne'Rahten Developments obtained about $6 million in funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for the project this past summer.

Since then, Tobac said the community has already chosen a spot for the new facility, and a subcontractor has cleared the area and laid gravel.

Tobac said the plan is to bring in as many of the supplies needed as possible over the winter road this year and begin construction as soon as the spring building season starts— though Tobac worries that the extremely high volume of trucks expected on the winter road could present some challenges.

A space for building and learning

Kristel Derkowski, the research manager at Taylor Architecture Group, was involved in the design of the building.

She said the current plan is for a two-storey building, about 6,800 square feet in size. Half of the space will be a two-storey building space with a door large enough that a semi-truck can back into it.

The remaining area will contain a ground-floor wood shop, a staff room and kitchenette, some office space and a second-floor classroom area overlooking the main work space where pre-trades instruction could take place.
 
"We're trying really, really hard to deliver something that's going to be meaningful and that's going to be sustainable and have an impact," Derkowski said.

Tobac said the training aspect of the project is the most exciting part of the project for him. It's a continuation of work the community has been doing for years to build up capacity in the trades through Ne'Rahten and the K'asho Got'ı̨nę Housing Society.

Right now, Tobac said community members who want to pursue the trades generally go to Fort Smith for school, after which they might need to spend a lot more time outside the community to accumulate the building hours they need to complete their certifications. 

"It's just really hard for them," he said, especially for those who have young families. 

He said if community members are able to get those building hours at the new home construction centre, as is the plan, it will remove a substantial barrier for them.

Made-in-the-north housing

The project also provides a unique opportunity to create modular housing that is made specifically for northern living — an opportunity those in Fort Good Hope intend to take advantage of.

Early in the project's development, Taylor Architecture hosted a workshop where community members had a chance to share what they wanted to see in the home. Attendees ranged from students, to elders, to construction workers.

Tobac said it was a very meaningful exercise for many participants.

"They had never been asked, never been included or asked … what kind of house would work best in a community like [Fort] Good Hope," he said.

Derkowski said one of the biggest takeaways from that meeting was that community members wanted more space to process food they had harvested on the land.

Derkowski said designs right now include cold porches for harvesting and kitchens close by to accommodate this, "as opposed to burying a very clean and dainty kitchen at the back of the house,"  which can be common in modular homes designed to fit comfortably on trucks for highway transportation.

Community members involved in construction or maintenance work shared their expertise on what types of buildings and appliances were easiest for them to build and maintain in the Sahtu. 

Overall, Tobac said, the construction centre will fill an important role in the community's vision for housing and wellness.

"Being part of it is quite exciting," he said.