“It’s like putting together an Ikea set,” said Craig Mitchell, principal of BlackBox Offsite Solutions Ltd., an expert in off-site construction, while explaining the simplicity of prefabricated housing construction.

“You can build the building and model it (in a factory) and then you can break it down into individual panels or components. All those panels can be sent on the back of a flatbed truck and then erected on site.”

Prefabricated modular construction isn’t a new idea: Its origins trace back to the Gold Rush in the United States and Winston Churchill’s plan to tackle the housing shortage in the United Kingdom after the Second World War.

But it’s an option that is drawing new interest as Canada grapples with a lack of affordable housing and a skilled labour shortage that is constraining attempts to build more quickly.

Approximately 90 per cent of construction companies report that the shortage of skilled labour or trades is adversely affecting their ability to bid on projects and meet project deadlines, according to a recent survey by KPMG Canada. They also believe incorporating digital technologies can enhance the effectiveness of their workforce in mitigating those labour shortages. Prefabricated or modular construction has been touted as one of the technologies with the potential to reshape the industry by providing an approach that minimizes the reliance on traditional on-site labour.

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