Press Release
Alma, Monday, March 18, 2024 – Boréal delivered today the last of its ten 53-foot enclosed trailers, containing five duplexes en route to the ice road in Northern Ontario. This initiative aims to contribute to the reduction of the housing shortage in the far north.
Patrick Girard, president of Boréal, is pleased with how things have turned out. “I am very proud of my team, which was able to design, manufacture, and deliver in record time, less than 5 weeks, 5 buildings of 30 feet x 80 feet on piles that will be able to house 10 families by the summer of 2024,” he states.
In collaboration with our Ontarian partner, One Bowl, an organization that aids in the development of First Nations communities, we received a request for the construction of a three-bedroom Boréal building capable of withstanding the extreme weather conditions of the north. These buildings had to be completed within tight deadlines, as they will be transported on the ice road to reach 3 communities before the ice melts. This road is the only way to carry out heavy transportation to reach remote territories to ensure construction during the summer of 2024.
One Bowl works with various communities to develop unique wooden constructions that meet local needs. Boréal’s self-construction option offers the possibility for the buildings to be manufactured for and by the people of the communities. The product used, Boréal’s ThermologMD, is an innovation that allows the exterior of a building to be made of pine, the insulation to have an efficiency of R30, and the interior finish to be pine, all in one step, responding quickly and effectively to the urgent need for housing.
With the current housing shortage in Canada, Boréal offers an innovative solution: the delivery of kit buildings, easily assembled by remote communities. Operating in Quebec for more than twelve years, the three factories, with the main one based in Alma, have allowed Boréal to manufacture more than 1200 buildings to date, mainly in Quebec.
Pascal Tremblay, Vice President of Business Development, is optimistic about the future of projects like this outside the province. “We are working hard to develop Ontario and the northern United States, and we should have some good news to announce soon. We hope these five buildings will mark the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration since some communities have already expressed the need for more than 50 buildings in the next three to five years, and we are eager to realize these projects with them.”
