Round 3: Housing supply challenge

The Northern Access Round seeks solutions that reduce the time, cost, and risk to access resources for building and maintaining appropriate northern and remote housing supply.

The Northern Access Round has a pool of up to $80M to fund and implement ideas that address supply chain barriers.

Improving the supply chain will reduce the cost to build, operate and maintain housing in northern and remote regions.

Inefficient supply chains put northern and remote housing at risk of rapid deterioration and severely constrain new housing development.

In northern and remote regions, the supply chain deals with various factors that make accessing materials and resources a challenge. The effects of these factors on housing supply vary widely and include:

• Remote building sites that receive incorrect or damaged materials cannot return them and order new supplies within timelines and budgets, and using the wrong materials lowers the quality of housing.
• The risk of unforeseen events is high in northern and remote projects, which results in high contingency funds for developers, contributing to the high cost per square foot.
• Land-locked (fly-in fly-out) communities face cargo limitations of the aircraft capable of servicing short gravel airstrips, limiting the quantity of materials and equipment for building.
• The window for transport by ice road is getting increasingly shorter with climate change. Sea shipping is also limited to short seasonal operations.
• Planning and spending must occur long before building.

A wide range of solutions can improve efficient and affordable access to materials and resources in northern and remote regions.

Solutions relevant to this Round include:

• transportation and logistical solutions that improve access to building materials and resources
• solutions to increase accessibility to fly in, fly out communities
• solutions to improve the feasibility of climate adaptation and culturally appropriate techniques
• capacity and training solutions that address the high cost and limited access to skilled workers
• technology solutions that enhance or expand existing infrastructure
• innovative approaches to the  handling, shipping, and storing of materials
• alternative methods for financing land development and construction
• local, community-driven solutions that reduce dependency on the supply chain

All proposed solutions must align with the Northern Access Round’s 3 objectives:

• Objective 1
  
  Reduce time, cost, and risk to access required materials for housing in remote communities
• Objective 2
  
  Demonstrate impact on building or maintaining appropriate housing supply
• Objective 3
  
  Provide direct benefit to northern and remote regions

The following professionals and organizations are encouraged to apply:

• Supply chain professionals
• For-profit and not-for-profit organizations
• Indigenous governments, organizations, and groups
• Canadian post-secondary institutions
• Governments (provincial, territorial, Indigenous, municipal, local and regional)
• Teams composed of a variety of participants

All applicants must be affiliated with a legally incorporated organization.

Additional support for northern or remote applicants

Northern and remote individuals, communities, and organizations, especially Indigenous governments, organizations and groups are eligible to participate in the Northern Ideas Development Program to receive support to develop their application.

Apply to participate with one of these options:

• A supply chain solution that you would like to explore further
• A problem that you would like support with, to identify potential solutions

Visit the Northern Ideas Development Program for northern and remote residents to get guidance, mentorship and resources needed to develop and improve your application. You can also reach out to our partner by email or by phone at 1-800-403-4525 for any questions regarding your application.

Industry Professionals

Your supply chain experience is valuable!

If you’re working in the supply chain or in the logistics industry, your experience puts you in a key position to know the challenges faced and even possible solutions. We want to hear from you and work with you on your ideas. We have $80M in funding and the Northern Access Round offers the perfect opportunity to share your knowledge and experience in your area.

Visit the Housing Supply Challenge Support Program to get guidance, mentorship and resources needed to develop and improve your submission. Our friends at Evergreen are available to answer any questions about the application process and provide one-on-one support.

Contact Evergreen today.

We have $80M in funding available for the Northern Access Round.

This challenge has several stages. If your solution is selected, funding is available to prototype your initial idea and to implement the final solution.

Stage 1: Application phase (opens February 23, 2022)
Applicants develop and submit applications.
February 23, 2022 – June 23, 2022

Evaluation and shortlist
The panel will shortlist applicants eligible for prototype development funding after evaluating all submissions.
June 23 – August 2022

Stage 2: Project/prototype development
Shortlisted projects will receive up to $250,000 each to develop/prototype their solution for final approval.
September 2022 – September 2023

Final evaluation
The panel will evaluate the prototyped projects and select the successful submissions.
September 2023 – November 2023

Stage 3: Implementation
Successful solutions share the remaining funds from the pool of $80M for implementation.
November 2023 – March 2025

1. Northern Ideas Development Program for northern and remote residents

The Northern Ideas Development Program provides support to northern and remote participants who have a solution or a problem they would like to explore, but who need support, resources, and capacity to develop their submission and apply.

Participants must apply to the Northern Ideas Development Program to receive support. Participants will be selected on a rolling basis throughout Stage 1 and will receive support to develop a full application to the Round. The Program will help participants to meet the eligibility criteria for the Northern Access Round and will work with teams to ensure the identified problem or proposed solution aligns with the Challenge’s objectives.

Support will vary for each participant based on their needs, and may include:

• research and data gathering
• seeking partnerships
• supporting solution development
• providing consulting services
• writing and submission support
• innovation sessions
• a dedicated one-on-one advisor

Contact the Northern Ideas Development Program to get assistance on your submission.

• Email: NIDP@Innovation7.ca
• Phone: 1-800-403-4525
• Join our community on Facebook

2. Applicant Support Program for all applicants:

All applicants, including those participating in the Northern Ideas Development Program may contact Evergreen for general guidance on the application process, web resources to support application development and online activities to foster partnerships and collaboration. Evergreen can also help you navigate the applicant portal.

Contact the Housing Supply Challenge Support Program, run by our partner Evergreen.

• Email: HSC-DOLsupport3@evergreen.ca
• Phone: 647-670-2265
• Join our community on Facebook

Visit the Evergreen Support Program landing page.

The following documents will help you draft and submit your solution on the Impact Canada Portal. Applications must be submitted online through Impact Canada’s portal.

• Application Guide
• Application Form
• Frequently Asked Questions