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.
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.