Canada is facing a housing crisis, with an urgent need for 4.3 million additional homes for low-income individuals, students, and the unsheltered, as well as 199,000 new beds in Long-Term Care facilities by 2035. Compounding this issue is the anticipated retirement of 700,000 skilled trades workers by 2028 and 51 percent increase in construction costs in recent years. Policymakers are under pressure to rapidly develop new infrastructure to meet the rising demand driven by population growth and a dwindling skilled labour force. Exploring innovative construction methods is essential to addressing these escalating challenges.
Addressing the crisis, their federal government has announced a substantial investment of over $600 million towards homebuilding innovation, with a particular emphasis on modular and prefabricated construction. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Selkirk College is utilizing modular construction methods to provide housing for students at its Nelson and Castlegar campuses in British Columbia. The first project, a $33.9-million facility in Nelson, is being constructed by Scott Builders and ROC Modular, with units being lifted into place last month. These modular units, built indoors in a large temperature-controlled facility in Bow Island, come fully equipped with drywall, insulation, windows, cabinets, interior paint, electrical/plumbing, and flooring. The versatility of modular construction can’t be stressed enough as it can be used in utilities and infrastructure as well. Aecon Group Inc. is collaborating with E.S. Fox Limited to construct North America’s first grid-scale Small Modular Reactor (SMR) as part of Ontario’s Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP). Aecon and E.S. Fox will jointly fabricate steel components offsite and these components will be welded into sub-assemblies and transported to the DNNP site, where they will be assembled into larger modules and used to build the primary steel structure of the reactor building, reducing construction costs for the BWRX-300 SMR, a new class of nuclear reactor.
4th Annual Modular Construction & Prefabrication Symposium by Trueventus is aimed to create a premier destination for professionals to stay at the forefront of innovation in the construction industry and be a part of shaping the future of construction. Learning directly from the modular experts how to apply effective streamline workflows, improve productivity, generate stronger profit margins, and take advantage of the excellent networking opportunities throughout the symposium.
