Page 17 - BEC / DEC / 2022

Sakku Innovative Building Solutions, the Kivalliq be manufacturing modular housing units that will be

Larga expansion and the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link. shipped to communities throughout the region for

These projects are opening the door to exciting new final assembly and finishing.
opportunities.

Within a few years, SIBS will have the capacity to
SAKKU INNOVATIVE BUILDING add hundreds of new homes to the region’s housing
SOLUTIONS (SIBS) infrastructure, employ 40 full-time staff at the Arviat

factory, and hundreds of secondary jobs delivering

SIBS is an Inuit-led, Inuit-made solution to the and installing finished modules on site—as well as
housing shortage that must be overcome if the 145,000 hours of apprenticeship training during that

Kivalliq—and Nunavut as a whole—is to realize period.

its full potential. Overcrowding, and lack of good-
quality housing, is certainly a quality-of-life issue, “And of course, the societal benefits will be

but it’s also an economic issue. Without sufficient exponential,” says Kakuktinniq. “Imagine the
housing, people may experience barriers to pride that comes from knowing an Inuit-owned

accepting a new job, studying for a new career and company is overcoming one of the region’s biggest

just getting the rest they need to be healthy and live challenges.”
life to the fullest.

“There are many reasons why our housing shortage

is so persistent: The northern construction season

is short. It can be difficult and expensive to transport
materials,” says Kakuktinniq

“Too often, we rely on the services and building
designs of companies from the south, who don’t

understand the kind of housing we need for our

lifestyles and weather conditions. Plus, by bringing
in so many tradespeople from the south, we are

essentially “exporting” wages that we would like to
see staying here in the Kivalliq.”

SIBS is changing that dynamic. At its new SIBS
factory in Arviat, now under construction, SIBS will

DEC 2022 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA 17