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The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
A factory producing modular homes is in progress in Arviat, Nunavut, to produce dozens of units for the region and employ community members in the process.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sakku Innovative Building Solutions \u2014 the development arm of the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) \u2014 started the project in 2023 and says it should be complete by April.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’ll be quite the thing when it’s done and starts producing homes and creating employment and supplying homes to the whole region \u2014 and hopefully, in the future, beyond this region,\u201d Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cExcited is an understatement. We might have to invent a new word to come up with on how happy we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The factory is located near the community\u2019s airport. It is slated to produce about 40 housing units a year, manufactured indoors at the new facility and shipped across the Kivalliq region.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"2023](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764728929_757_default.jpg\")
A 2023 rendering of the modular homes facility in Arviat. (submitted by Sakku Investments Corporation)<\/p>\n
Guillaume Guida, vice president of business development with Sakku, said most designs for modular units that come north are adapted for cities in southern Canada, while the homes that will be produced in Arviat are designed with Nunnavummuit in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to prove that it was possible to build modular in the North, and install modular in the North, with local people,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The factory is expected to create 40 full-time jobs in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere would be no point of building a factory in the North if we were not to hire people of the North to work in that factory,\u201d Guida said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The facility was initially expected to be complete this year, but the company said that a need for more warehouse space and post-pandemic inflation delayed the timeline and increased the cost from $50 to $70 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Guida said that when the factory opens there will initially be experienced specialists running it, but the plan is to also train Nunnavummuit and to promote Inuit employment. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo it really anchors the project into the community and the needs of the North,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said that finishing the construction of the facility is making the project feel real for the team and that they are all excited for the final touches and to get started.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s real, it\u2019s coming soon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-321788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}