'It's major': Indigenous women-led modular home factory being built in northern Ontario

Source: Faith Greco | · CBC · | August 26, 2025

Factory in Kirkland Lake is set to be operational by July 1 next year

Construction on a $20-million modular housing factory is underway in Kirkland Lake — and there's a unique aspect to it.

Keepers of the Circle, operated by the Temiskaming Native Women's Support Group, is building the 24,000-square-foot factory in hopes of bringing more sustainable and durable homes to First Nations communities in northern Ontario. 

"Our goal is that our local Indigenous communities in the north benefit from these homes. We know a lot of communities are experiencing overcrowding, they're experiencing mould issues because of continuous flooding of their homes," said Bertha Cormier, executive director of Keepers of the Circle. 

The project, which aims to help Indigenous women build careers in construction, began a few years ago when the Indigenous group partnered with Tooketree Passive Homes, a company that specializes in energy-efficient prefabricated homes based in southern Ontario.

Supporting Indigenous women in construction 

In the fall of 2022, six Indigenous women were sent to Baysville for three months to be trained by the company in making home construction panels for a 600-square-foot home to be built in Temiskaming.

"These women had no previous construction experience with tools or even how to read a measuring tape," she said.

"They built the walls, the roof, as well as the floor panels. And then they brought the panels back to the district and put the house together the last week of January of 2023."

Cormier said that the house is completely off-grid, solar powered with a compostable waterless toilet and a catchment system to supply water for washing.