Company possible solution to housing crisis?

High Prairie Councillor Wilfred Willier, right, invited Art New, the president of Calgary-based ShowHomes Canada, to make a presentation in High Prairie about the types of homes his company can build.

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

ShowHomes Canada can manufacture and deliver a home to a client within 60-90 days. Arthur New, president of Calgary-based ShowHomes Canada, touted this as part of his presentation at the High Prairie Inn Feb. 27. Councillor Wilfred Willier met New in Calgary in December 2007 and invited him to High Prairie to make a presentation. “The main advantage is that you get very good quality in a factory-built home,” says New. “Because it’s a (Canadian Standards Association) CSA-approved factory, you have to have good quality.” ShowHomes Canada builds modular single- and multi-family homes, one or two storeys high. They can be customized to meet the customer’s needs. Many of the homes are built in the U.S. and imported to Canada. Almost all of the company’s suppliers use an open web truss system, which allows the home to be put on blocks or a basement. All the heat ducts, water connections and electrical wiring go within the floor system, thereby saving on overhead basement space. In the case of above ground placements, insulation is placed between the joists and on the exterior of the services. He also says up to 150 hours of work has to be completed after the house has been delivered to the site. His company works closely with the homeowner, developer or builder to ensure all the technical issues are handled properly. The factory sometimes has to accommodate certain architectural controls imposed by the developer. “It’s a coordinated team effort in building these homes,” says New. Willier likes what ShowHomes Canada has to offer. He says the company’s products could help deal with the housing shortage in High Prairie and surrounding communities. “It’s a win-win situation for High Prairie,” says Willier. Chamber president Gord Olson also attended the presentation. Olson says New has some interesting and innovative ideas, but he has concerns about the construction costs. “It’s good to see what people are doing in other communities and they have unique products,” says Olson. “The one thing we really didn’t talk about in the presentation was price. “If we’re talking affordable homes and affordable housing, that’s something that we need to talk to Art New more about.” New says that, for a house imported from the U.S., the fluctuating Canadian dollar should be factored into the construction budget to deal with any additional and unexpected costs. While ShowHomes Canada sells to developers and builders, the company does not normally sell to individual buyers. Hector Renaud is disappointed about this, saying New is only interested in “bulk sales.” Renaud, who worked in construction in Windsor, Ont. before moving to High Prairie, says he would not get involved with “bulk sales” because he’d have to guess at what customers are looking for. Or, he’d have to look for x-number of clients simultaneously, then devise a package based on what they want individually. Then there’s the bridge financing, whereby a loan would have to be obtained in advance to purchase the houses while they are still under construction. But the interest rate for bridge financing is expensive and it’s all the more risky if a package deal has to be put together for x-number of clients. “It doesn’t help the private individual at all,” says Renaud. New says ShowHomes Canada likes to sell to municipalities, foundations, settlements and First Nations, as opposed to individual homebuyers, and have local people in place to handle the necessary arrangements. “We prefer to sell to local business people if they’re selling with one-off houses. They’re in a better position to service the house,” says New. It would be difficult to service a single buyer because his company is based in southern Alberta. However, if someone’s in a desperate situation, the company would do its best to help them, or put them in contact with someone locally. New adds there a lot of dealers in Alberta, including several in Grande Prairie. New says he is willing to work with Renaud because of his experience and because he could be the local contact.

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