We are a registered PSAB-eligible vendor and partner directly with several First Nations-owned construction and installation firms across Canada — installation work is routinely subcontracted to Indigenous-owned trades as part of the project's economic-development value, not as an afterthought. Past programmes include shelter networks for Cowessess First Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawks of Akwesasne, Nation Huronne-Wendat, Kahnawà:ke Mohawks, Kanesatake, Eskasoni Mi'kmaw Nation, Wikwemikong Unceded Territory, plus contracts under Manitoba Indigenous Transit Pilot and the Saskatchewan Indigenous Bus Service programmes.
Specification highlights
The shelter spec for Indigenous communities often includes cultural-design elements developed in collaboration with the community — colour palettes drawn from regalia and seasonal cycles, wood-cladding panels honouring local-tree species (cedar in coastal communities, birch in central, jack pine in northern), and signage that uses the community's language alongside English and French. We work with the Nation's economic-development office or band-council representative on the design brief and present concepts in the format the Nation prefers (sometimes a Talking Circle, sometimes a council presentation).
Logistics for remote and northern communities is a core competency: we ship via NAPS / Polar Air Cargo, winter-road convoys, and barge service for James Bay, Hudson Bay, and Arctic-coast communities. Shelters are crated for multi-modal transport with weather-resistant packaging that survives outdoor staging through a winter-road season. Field installation is co-ordinated around community schedules and weather windows.
Procurement, partnership, and capacity-building
We approach Indigenous-community work as a partnership rather than a vendor relationship. Beyond the shelter delivery itself, we offer a community-trades training programme where our installation crew works alongside community members for the first two shelters of any project, transferring the install method so the community can self-install future shelters and run its own warranty maintenance. We also support band-council procurement reporting to ISC and PSPC with the standard PSAB-format documentation. Pricing is transparent and standardised: the same per-unit price a city pays for an equivalent shelter, with no Indigenous-supplier markup. Cultural-design programmes are billed at cost (artist honoraria + production) rather than at a margin — the cultural integrity of the work is more important than the revenue line on it. Past partnerships have included multi-year supply agreements with several First Nations economic-development corporations.