Published 8:48 am Thursday, October 15, 2026 By William Koblensky Varela Local Journalism Initiative Northern News Service The Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s board of directors was told last week that building a modular home factory in Cambridge Bay would drive up housing prices. Delivering modular housing supplies to Cambridge Bay, assembling them and then shipping finished homes to other communities in the region would drive up costs compared with simply having the materials sent directly to the communities, the board of directors heard during the first day of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s annual general meeting. Brad Krizan, chief operating officer of the Kitikmeot Corporation, explained the issue to the board at the meeting in Cambridge Bay on Oct. 6. “You’re basically going to ship materials twice. You’re going to have to ship the homes twice. We’re really looking at it more in terms of: what is the cost of housing?” he said. “There are already modular manufacturers that can build the product that we can have brought up.” On Sept. 23, Nunavut’s first modular housing factory began production in Arviat under the ownership of the Kivalliq Inuit Association. That factory was expected to cost at least $60 million to build with the hopes of producing 40 homes per year, and it currently has a 93 per cent Inuit employment rate. While western Nunavut doesn’t expect to follow suit, the Kitikmeot Corporation plans on creating a program to deliver more housing to the region by the end of the year, according to Krizan. That could involve having a non-profit oversight model, working with local businesses, and beginning the delivery of homes by 2027, he said.
Modular home factory in Cambridge Bay would increase home prices, Kitikmeot Inuit Association told
