When those 22 modular pods rolled down the snow-packed streets of Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island in Canada last week, they carried more than just walls and flooring. They also carried a blueprint for change. A home, or nine of them to be exact, for families in need. With four 4-bedroom homes and five 2-bedroom homes to rise from those pods, the Nunavut Housing Corporation is delivering much more than shelter—they are delivering dignity, stability, and hope.
At the center of this transformation is Arctic Modular Homes, founded in 2023 by architects Amanda Doiron and Stuart Rostant. After years of testing methods for northern and remote construction through their parent company, CHOU Consulting & Development Inc., they launched Arctic Modular Homes to bring high-quality, prefabricated housing solutions that are purpose-built for the tough, cold, and wildly beautiful Arctic environment.
A Model That’s Made for the North
What sets Arctic Modular Homes apart is their laser-focus on the real challenges of building in Nunavut. Harsh weather. Isolation. High transportation costs. Short building seasons. Their homes are engineered to perform against those challenges: durable materials, designs that cope with permafrost and freeze-thaw cycles, and modular pods that can be constructed offsite, transported, and then assembled locally. The Cambridge Bay project is the largest delivery yet for the company, but it builds on earlier pilot projects in 2021 and 2022 that proved the concept. Arctic Modular Homes
Community Impact
These new nine homes will serve as public housing in Cambridge Bay, managed locally, and will help address a severe housing shortage. For many northern communities, overcrowding, aging housing stock, and the prohibitive costs of building traditionally are constant issues. Modular housing offers a path to faster delivery, coupled with quality.
But it’s not just about speed or cost. It’s about the kind of housing people want and deserve—spaces that are well-insulated, energy efficient, built to last, and sensitive to the environment. Homes that support family life in the North, rather than hampering it. Arctic Modular Homes are doing that.
Part of a Bigger Movement
The Cambridge Bay work is happening against the backdrop of broader efforts in Canada’s North to tackle housing shortages. Just recently, the Government of the Northwest Territories announced plans to build 98 new modular public housing units across nine communities—places such as Ulukhaktok, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvik, and others. These homes are to be durable, energy efficient, climate resilient and built for northern conditions. They will also be prefabricated and assembled on site. Cabin Radio
It’s a sign that modular housing is moving from being one among many options, to a key strategy. Companies like Arctic Modular Homes are positioned to lead—and already are.
Looking Forward
With the Cambridge Bay project now underway and with public housing corporations increasingly embracing modular builds, the future looks promising. There are still challenges: logistics, funding, regulatory hurdles, and ensuring that communities are designing these homes in ways that respect culture, climate, and place. But Arctic Modular Homes seems to have both the technical chops and the local commitment to meet them.
Amanda Doiron and Stuart Rostant are not building just houses—they’re helping build confidence in a way forward for northern communities. In the coming years, we may look back on this moment—22 pods in Cambridge Bay assembled into nine homes—as one of the turning points in Arctic housing.
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With over 9,000 published articles on modular and offsite construction, Gary Fleisher remains one of the most trusted voices in the industry.
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