CEO of Eagle Building Solutions Leon Maskymchuk (middle), Project Manager Nehemiah Hubge (left) and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews (Right) tour of Eagle Building Solutions new factory where small modular homes are being built and used to help those in Indigenous communities. (Photo Credit: Shane Clausing)

By Shane Clausing

supporting indigenous communities

Grande Prairie company hopes to help remote, Indigenous communities with Flex Homes

Jul 23, 2021 | 3:40 PM

A local Grande Prairie company is hoping to help remote and Indigenous communities with their new small modular-style home builds.

Over the last five months, Eagle Building Solutions has been building a new style of home, known as Flex Homes, which they believe can help address housing issues these communities face.

The homes feature all of the amenities a typical home would have, and include wood heat, triple-pane argon windows, steel roofing, hardboard siding, and large fresh water and sewer holding tanks that are insulated and heated to offset the risk of freeze-up.

Kirk Fowler with Eagle Building Solutions says housing options like this have been desperately needed for years.

“Lots of the opportunity came from people of the north. I’ve been dealing with First Nations in the past, and it certainly becomes a quality-of-life issue on (the topic of) First Nations housing,” explained Fowler. “We saw an opportunity to help them out on that level, in producing a better-quality home, with better insulation value that would provide them with what’s needed.

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Fowler says the homes, which range from 513 to 675 square feet, are meant to withstand extreme cold, which is often seen here in the north.

“In the past, some of the inferior housing would have the water lines freeze up. We’ve taken our engineering group and gone to the next level. We are truly producing a unit that will be sustainable in the north at minus 50 temperatures for 40 years potentially with long-term viability.”

Utility lines being installed for modular homes. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

What the completion of a modular home looks like. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

Fowler adds his team has visited with members of Indigenous communities and they’ve learned that sustainable housing is a top issue they are hoping to address.

“The Aseniwuche (Winewak Nation) down by Grande Cache, we met with them six weeks ago and (their people) are originally (from) Jasper National Park, and were basically pushed out of the park and given crown land elsewhere around Grande Cache,” said Fowler.

“They don’t have the infrastructure in place. Some homes have wells and others don’t. There are people in their mid-20’s who’ve lived all their life without running water.”

Fowler adds now that they have these relationships, they are hoping they can help these communities in the near future.

“With the First Nations communities we’re working within the north, we’ve got a 60-day program developed. They would be able to come here, work in the different construction units and understand how they’re built. It would really allow for First Nations people to develop skill sets and have an interest in achieving their goals.”

The program with the communities is expected to be rolled out in the near future.

Minister of Finance and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews toured the facility on July 23. He says it is great to see the impact a local company is having on residents in the Peace Region and throughout northern Canada.

“I’m so encouraged to see a new manufacturing business get established here in the Grande Prairie region. A business that’s really taking an innovative approach at building housing and solving for challenges for housing in our community and region.

“We know we have housing challenges in some of the outer regions of Alberta and even beyond. Many challenges exist on many First Nations communities, so it’s great to see a company like this step forward with solutions and help solve some of those challenges.”

Fowler says, on average, it takes 30 days to build a Flex Home. As Eagle Building Solutions continues to grow, they hope to build a home every 14-16 days.