Regina company braving ice roads to deliver homes to northern communities

Herauf Modular Solutions are sending three buildings to a remote northern community to be used for youth transitional homes. And the trek to deliver the homes is not exactly straightforward.

“We’re in constant communication with the transportation company, who are in constant communication with the Department of Highways,” said Laurie O’Connor, administration manager at Herauf Modular Solutions.

“Because of the logistics, the weight and length of the units, we only have a certain window to deliver.”

A convoy of housing units are travelling over 700 kilometres from the Herauf Modular Solutions facility in Regina to St. Theresa Point First Nation in northern Manitoba.

Accessing the remote, northern First Nation requires driving over the Manitoba ice roads. With the rising spring temperatures, Herauf were against the clock to ensure they could safely pass the ice roads before temperatures became too warm.

“The ice roads only opened up a week and half ago,” said O’Connor. “Anywhere near minus five (degrees) and they shut them down. So we’ve been against the clock.”

The convoy left Regina for St. Theresa Point First Nation on March 15, and are expected to have three nights traversing the ice roads. The conditions thus far haven’t been ideal, said O’Connor, with the trucks often have to slow down to speeds between 20-30 kilometres per hour when crossing the bumpy ice roads.

“We’ve heard the roads are quite rough, so they’re going quite a bit slower,” said O’Connor.

O’Connor said their company sends a representative for the entire length of the trip and delivery, to ensure their quality standards are met.

The youth transitional homes taken to the remote community will be the second time Herauf Modular Solutions has partnered with St. Theresa Point First Nation – last year, the Regina company sent a building used for the rural community’s wellness centre.

“With the housing crisis, we know first hand from some of our clients that there’s a need to get housing rapidly out onto the nation. We know they want suitable housing structures and we can get them that out to them in three-to-four months,” said O’Connor.

Herauf Modular Solutions is a custom home builder with locations in Regina, as well as Alberta, and British Columbia. They aim to reduce several of the barriers to owning a home. According to Kraig Bast, director of corporate at Herauf, their typical build cuts down on costs by about 20 to 25 percent, while being able to build transportable homes 30 to 35 percent faster in their climate-controlled facility.

The speed and cost-effectiveness of the builds can be of great benefit to Indigenous communities, said Bast.

“The resources up north are very expensive and often difficult to obtain. So it’s a more economical approach,” he said. “The back-end things of being built in a facility, you don’t get the change-orders for weather delays and additional weather costs.”

Herauf Modular Solutions have partnered with several Indigenous communities around western and central Canada, including 20 modular homes to the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement, and seven modular buildings for Zagime Anishinabek First Nation.

Bast said the numbers with First Nations communities are continually growing. And the speed and cost effectiveness of their builds are not the only benefit to remote northern communities

“They’re built easy to install, with basically zero site-interruption until they have a turnkey installation dropped on their location,” said Bast.

“(And because they’re built on skids), if a community ends up with fires, all you need to do is disconnect the utilities and load it on a flat deck, and drive it straight out.”

In the event of wildfires, Bast said their homes can reduce the amount of long-term displaced community members by not having to wait months or years to rebuild on-site.

Their approach can be of benefit to urban centres as well, said O’Connor. In 2025, Regina City Council approved amendments to its zoning bylaws to allow manufactured and modular homes in all residential zones across the city. The move is designed to increase affordable housing options and improve density throughout the city.

“The needs for housing, whether its urban or rural, are constantly growing,” said O’Connor.

“(A family in a First Nation) recently moved into one of our homes and absolutely love it. It was a single mom with two children. The home is low maintenance, it was ready to go. It gave her and her children a home.”