Ottawa puts $2.3M into Yukon manufacturing to expand northern housing builds<\/p>\n
Published 5:30 pm Thursday, February 19, 2026<\/p>\n
Ottawa is putting more than $2.3 million into Yukon\u2011based manufacturing projects it says will help expand northern housing construction capacity, announcing the funding during a visit to Whitehorse on Feb. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Northern Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand said the investments, delivered through the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), are intended to strengthen regional production and reduce delays tied to weather and supply chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are helping deliver more homes for Canadians while strengthening northern economies,\u201d she said in the written release.<\/p>\n
The funding includes up to $1.2 million for First Kaska Construction to automate its Heartland Timber Homes plant in Watson Lake, $950,000 for NGC Builders to build a prefabrication facility in Whitehorse, and $182,635 for Northerm Windows and Doors to expand its aluminum fabrication line.<\/p>\n
During the media availability, two reporters pressed federal officials on the housing targets Ottawa aims to meet in the Yukon and across the North. Neither Chartrand nor Yukon MP Brendan Hanley provided unit projections, timelines, or other measurable outcomes, either for the region overall or tied to the new investments.<\/p>\n
Hanley instead pointed to the Yukon\u2019s population growth and the need to support businesses and communities across the North, but did not quantify how the upgrades would translate into new homes.<\/p>\n
The Yukon government is contributing $43,727 to Northern Windows and Doors\u2019 project and $124,318 to NGC Builders\u2019 project, according to the federal news release.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes as a City of Whitehorse housing needs assessment points to a growing shortfall in the Yukon capital. Doug Gilday, president and CEO of NGC Builders, said the shortage is seen both in daily life and on construction sites, recalling a recent incident in which people were sheltering in an electrical room during a \u2013 30 C cold snap.<\/p>\n
Gilday said NGC\u2019s new prefabrication facility will allow the company to manufacture wall panels, framing packages, and modular units year\u2011round, reducing weather\u2011related delays. The construction and implementation of the facility is expected to take two years, according to a federal news release.<\/p>\n
First Kaska Construction\u2019s expansion aims to automate key parts of its Watson Lake plant over the next two years. Chief Stephen Charlie of Liard First Nation said the project will help train young workers and build long\u2011term manufacturing capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are significantly scaling our production capacity to meet the urgent demand for housing across the North,\u201d First Kaska COO Oscar Gomez said in the release.<\/p>\n
Charlie said the community hopes to eventually build 300 to 400 homes per year, though that figure reflects First Kaska\u2019s own ambition rather than a federal benchmark. He also described plans to grow the Liard region\u2019s forest industry and biomass heating sector, positioning the Watson Lake plant as a supplier of Indigenous\u2011built housing across the North.<\/p>\n
Northerm Windows and Doors acting president Conrad Browne said CanNor funding has already helped modernize the company\u2019s glass line and expand its commercial and multi\u2011residential offerings. He said the new equipment will strengthen the Whitehorse\u2011based manufacturer\u2019s ability to meet growing demand and reduce lead times for builders.<\/p>\n
While the federal government framed the investments as part of a long\u2011term strategy to build northern capacity, it did not outline how the upgrades would translate into the number of homes needed to close the territory\u2019s housing gap. No updated territorial housing target or unit estimate was provided at the media availability.<\/p>\n
Chartrand highlighted partnerships with Indigenous and northern businesses as part of the federal government\u2019s long\u2011term strategy to build housing capacity, arguing the projects show Ottawa\u2019s effort to speed up homebuilding while supporting local economies.<\/p>\n
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ottawa puts $2.3M into Yukon manufacturing to expand northern housing builds Published 5:30 pm Thursday, February 19, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-486613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486613","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=486613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}