By Curtis Mercer, CHBA President
Factory-built housing construction methods, such as panelized and modular construction, are having their moment in the sun. While not a silver bullet to Canada’s housing affordability and supply challenges, they can certainly be part of the solution.
Embracing and adopting factory-built methods
In my travels to local HBAs across the country, I’m fascinated by how often this subject gets brought up and how different regions are embracing and adopting factory-built methods. Specifically, I’ve learned that geography plays a big role in adoption. This is doubly true in provinces where current conditions have severely hampered sales and construction, making the thought of investment in technology or adopting new approaches very untimely.
But for those regions where sales conditions are okay (and hopefully this will be the case in all regions soon), the opportunity is there. In Newfoundland and Labrador, these approaches are still in their early stages. Unlike other regions where modular homes have gained more traction, most of what we see locally is brought in from out of province. Transportation is the biggest challenge: Everything comes by boat, so homes arrive in smaller units rather than complete structures, which adds expense and complexity. This limitation has shaped perceptions and slowed adoption in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Conversely, when I recently visited PEI, I noticed modular construction was far more common. Why? They have a bridge. Transportation is simpler and more cost-effective. This is even more true in the Prairies, where adoption increases even more where transportation regulation is more favourable to larger loads.
However, for the first time this year in Newfoundland and Labrador, we’ve seen a local company begin to manufacture panels – and another panelization factory is under construction. For my company, this year marked our first steps into panelized construction. The motivation was simple: Labour shortages. Like many CHBA members across Canada, we’re struggling to find enough skilled workers. Panelized construction offers a way to build more with fewer people, and on several of our projects, it has worked remarkably well. Addressing labour shortages is why CHBA formed its Modular Construction Council back in 2017.
But the reality is that adopting panelization requires a complete overhaul of how we do business. It changes our schedules, workflows and planning processes. If we were turning over a house every week, widespread panelization or even full modular methods might make perfect sense. Instead, because we’re smaller volume, we’re adjusting project by project, which adds time and complexity. But once adopted, it could smoothen our delivery process.
CHBA’s Sector Transition Strategy does a great job outlining these challenges, and others, in moving to factory-built approaches. It offers solutions for governments to help de-risk investments in factory-built methods to get past the high overhead hurdles, because the upside is there. Labour shortages aren’t going away, and factory-built construction reduces the number of people needed on-site while boosting efficiency. The challenge for stick builders is streamlining that process.
Opportunity to transition
I’m a firm believer that industry needs to collaborate more closely to truly scale up. Let’s work together – builders and factories, with government collaboration – to make factory-built methods practical and scalable. It’s not just about solving labour shortages; it’s an opportunity to transition to a more efficient, resilient way to build homes in challenging environments. The potential is there. Now it’s time to seize the opportunity.
CHBA’s Modular Construction Council is ahead of the game on this front, and I’ve found their insights invaluable in helping me take the leap to embrace factory-built techniques in my business.
So, if you’re a CHBA member who is considering a move to factory-built methods, there is no better time than now to get involved in the Association. Get involved locally and come to provincial and CHBA National events, join a Committee or Council, and subscribe to CHBA’s Building Modular News (email communications@chba.ca to get on the mailing list). Together, we can stay up to date on the most current information about the opportunities in modular methods, share ideas, tackle challenges and unlock the full potential of factory-built construction to help pursue the doubling of housing starts to help solve Canada’s housing supply challenges.
