With a growing population breaking the 40-million mark, the demand for housing in Canada has never been greater. A lack of housing supply and challenges of affordability have widened the gap, especially in provinces like Ontario and Quebec. And as current immigration rates continue, the nation will need 3.5 million to four million more housing units by 2030, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
“This is because a higher population, and the larger pool of income it brings, increase demand for housing,” says the CMHC in its recent report, Housing shortages in Canada: Updating how much housing we need by 2030.
Politicians, construction industry experts, academics, and advocacy groups agree that the lack of housing in Canada is dire. Compounded by a workforce shortage in the skilled trades, housing simply cannot be completed quickly enough using traditional methods and materials. For many, the answer is modular construction.
“When I talk about making it faster to build homes, modular housing is a big part of it,” said Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his recent statement about the country’s need to accelerate construction. Unlike conventional building methods which require transporting huge amounts of materials like wood, concrete, and drywall to sites, modular construction is done off-site in a facility. Made to exact specifications, these modules are then moved and installed.
The benefits of modular compared to on-site construction are many, says Rhys Kane, Director of Business Development at award-winning ROC Modular. ROC (REAL Off-Site Construction) has proven its expertise in all aspects of modular construction. Since the company was founded in 2019, it has fabricated modules for such varied uses as social affordable housing, hospitality, education and student housing, Indigenous works, and industrial and commercial projects.
“Canada has a significant housing crisis, and a huge need for affordable housing,” says Kane. “And it seems the government is looking to modular construction as one of the options. It is definitely one of the good solutions.”
ROC produces modules at its 60,000 square-foot manufacturing facility on seven acres. Owing to its location in southern Alberta, the company serves markets within Western Canada, the North, and across the central and western United States. Buoyed by a favourable exchange rate, no tariffs or red tape, and the need for more affordable housing, Kane says the potential for growth in the U.S. is strong. “We’re completing projects in Washington, California, and Montana right now, with lots of activity in Colorado, so it’s a really good opportunity for Canadian modular companies,” he says.
“Typically, ROC’s focus is on the affordable housing side,” says Kane, “so we’re doing a lot of work in Western Canada and down in the U.S. for affordable housing, subsidized government-supported housing, social housing, and also for-rent buildings. But that also crosses over into the education sector, because we build affordable housing for students and seniors; staff housing in resort communities, mountain towns, and remote communities; and employee housing. It’s a fast and efficient way of housing at scale and at speed.”
Under the leadership of President and CEO Joe Kiss, ROC Modular continues on its successful growth trajectory. With the expertise of over a decade in the modular market, Kiss is guiding ROC’s growth as a leader in the modular industry.
Along with affordable housing, ROC also concentrates on the energy sector, creating modular offices, trailers, and entire workforce camps for oil & gas and mining communities. Typically, these types of structures are relocatable—they go into remote communities and are often moved after a few years, once the energy activity or mining life is completed.
As a manufacturer, ROC recognizes its strengths and those of its trusted partners. The company doesn’t rent structures, nor does it act as a general contractor, unlike some firms that try to be everything to everyone. “An important part of our business model is that we don’t compete with our customers,” says Kane. “We really focus on being good at what we do, which is the manufacturing side of things. And as the manufacturer, we partner with the best general contractors to deliver overall projects. General contractors are very good at what they do. It’s an opportunity for them to deliver better, more efficient projects.”
Operating in areas with large local Indigenous populations, ROC is active in the Indigenous community project sector. Understanding and appreciative of community needs and traditions, ROC provides appropriate housing, office projects, infrastructure, band offices, community centres, and Elders centres.
The need for Indigenous housing across Canada is great, and with many communities in rural and remote areas, it is often challenging to get labour and materials to site, which makes modular construction the ideal solution. Creating a project line that is culturally sensitive and suits community needs, ROC’s factory-made units are built to high standards. Extremely thermally efficient, they are delivered to communities that often perform the foundation and site work, with trained Indigenous men and women doing the installation.
With so many recent fires in western Canada, modular has also served as replacement housing in affected communities. “That has been a big one for us,” says Kane. “We can rapidly respond and deliver homes.”
Indeed, modular construction is ideal for everything from single-family homes in First Nations communities to large, six-story, multifamily affordable housing complexes. From manufacturing to project delivery, modular is broadening Canada’s construction industry. Units are made in a clean, safe, and well-equipped factory with all the necessary tools, and can be completed to a very high degree before delivery. As Kane jokes, “We can put blinds on the window, and the toilet roll on the holder. As a rule, we try to get these things as complete as possible so the developer can get the efficiency of using modular construction.”
Unlike structures built on-site, modular units can be repeated over and over, making them faster and more economical to produce than stick-built structures. And then there are trades to consider, traditionally working outside with conventional building methods. Instead of carpenters, plumbers, and other tradespeople facing extreme heat or brutal cold, ROC’s team completes units in a controlled environment, using the talents of every trade discipline under one roof, all employed by ROC. And instead of construction sites with multiple tradespeople from different companies stepping over each other, ROC’s modular units are made under the guidance of experienced managers in an environment that’s always safe and comfortable.
“The real difference with modular is that you can attract the best talent because they don’t have to work out of town,” Kane says. “They come and work in the same place every day. And the other thing with modular is that it’s very difficult to bring technology like automation or robotics into a site-built environment. On the other hand, we’re in a controlled manufacturing environment with CNC and other machines to improve efficiency of production, and it’s much easier to do that.”
ROC’s many permanent modular projects under construction include a six-storey affordable housing project for the City of Surrey RHI Project, and the Steveston RHI Project in Richmond, BC.
At 41,000 square feet, the City of Surrey Modular Supportive Housing project is a 60-unit modular housing complex “providing high-quality accommodation completed under the CMHC Rapid Housing Initiative for BC Housing,” says ROC. Now under construction, the project includes 54 modules built at ROC’s modular facility and will be made to BC Energy Step Code 4.
At three storeys high, the wood frame Turning Point Housing Society project in Richmond will be a 25-unit modular multifamily building funded through the Rapid Housing Initiative. Developed in partnership with BC Housing, subject to BC Housing Design and Construction Standards and CMHC Universal Design Guidelines, at least 60 percent of the units will include the city of Richmond’s Basic Universal Housing (BUH) features.
Says ROC, “To meet local flood plain requirements, the innovative project includes the main-floor modules requiring a steel-floor plate system including a full galvanized c-channel rim beam with cold-formed steel joists, and the subfloor and above is constructed with our typical wood framing.” Now under construction, the project features Buttcon as general contractor and TASU Construction as the modular site installer.
In its focus on volumetric modular construction and projects like these, ROC currently creates hundreds of units per year. As the company looks outward, it is excited for the potential for growth.
“ROC is on a growth trajectory,” Kane says. “It’s a relatively new business, but already doing significant scale and volume. We see a big increase in demand for modular, based on CMHC and government programs for housing and the wider need for affordable housing across Canada, and we’re growing our ability to service more projects,” he says.
For those doubters who still believe modular mainly means “always the same,” it’s worth noting that a number of ROC’s recently completed projects are acknowledged as standing out from the competition. At the Modular Building Institute Awards of Distinction ceremony at World of Modular, ROC had four winning entries. These include Red Deer Recovery Community’s First Place in the Permanent Modular Healthcare category and Judges’ Choice (the highest scoring entry across all categories). Then there was the Honourable Mention for Aster Place, Richmond, in the Relocatable Modular Social and Supportive Housing category and its Best in Show Award, as voted by all conference attendees.
Finally, acknowledging the work of the CMHC and the federal government in addressing Canada’s housing crisis, Kane sees ROC continuing to play a vital role in creating quality housing in a shorter timeframe than with traditional building methods and materials. “Modular construction is not the single solution,” he says, “but it’s definitely one of the best options we have available and the modular industry is ready to respond.”
