A new housing program is taking shape across the prairies, one that sees trees from nearby reserves cut down to make building supplies for local homes.
The Standing Tree to Standing Home program is the brainchild of the Frontiers Foundation in Manitoba.
The organization says three First Nations in this province – St. Theresa’s Point, South Indian and Garden Hill – have already signed on to the program and the community of Lac Brochet is also interested.
The group works with communities to devise ways of building houses with their own supplies for a fraction of the cost of a regular contractor.
Project advisor Wayne Brown says homes can be constructed for as little as $50,000 to $60,000 and the money stays within the local community.
For years, local leaders have expressed frustration with housing costs in middle and northern Canada with many saying communities need to take the lead on home-building themselves.
Laurel Gardiner and Brown say one of the main impediments to local home-building has always been regulatory hurdles.
“For years that’s what leadership was told by the lumber suppliers was that this couldn’t be done because it wasn’t grade-stamped”, Gardiner says.
About two years ago, the group began using money from the Aboriginal Forestry Initiative to see what could be done to improve the situation.
Brown says they eventually started implementing First Nations certification stamps of their own.
The wood that is used in the homes is usually spruce and some jack pine.
They pre-sort the lumber into grade two structural, stud-grade material and economy class.
Once there’s sufficient lumber, a grader comes in to give the wood the final stamp of certification.
Brown says the advantages include the fact First Nations bands can rent a sawmill for $35,000.
Once the initial training is completed, the potential exists for local jobs and development.
The house-frames are also built with a weather-tight seal so they can be accessed from the inside.
One of the reasons for this is because northern housing projects can get bogged down in electrical work, dry walling, and building permits.
Brown says that’s why it’s important to get the frame up first as trainees can lose enthusiasm if projects get bogged down in politics and funding.
There are many other considerations he explains, noting most bands have to monitor funding for the following fiscal year and must time their purchases with other bulk orders that go over winter roads.
He says he is heading to Lac Brochet in the coming months to talk about some double-walled housing styles for that community.
For its part, the Beardy’s Okemasis First Nation has already constructed one house through the program.
Alfred Gamble explains the band rented a mill last fall and built a stick-frame house with plans to build a few more each year.
Contractors were brought in to do the skidding but the First Nation did the rest.
“It was just basically to see if we could do it and we were able to complete the one house,” he says.
Thomas Porter is a Prince Albert entrepreneur who is assisting with the Frontier program.
For him, the main advantage goes beyond simple dollars and cents.
Porter says he constructed his own home from scratch but says it was a little nerve wracking getting started.
“When I got my hands on some tools, some good tools, and learned how to use them properly it was very, very empowering and I think that is the key factor that we need in the north in Canada is building confidence as much as building homes,” he says.
More information about the program can be found on the foundation’s website.
http://www.frontiersmb.ca/