Cover of the Northern Housing Technical Guide

Technical Guide for Northern Housing

Introduction

The development of the Technical Guide for Northern Housing (TGNH) was led by the First Nations National Building Officers Association (FNNBOA). FNNBOA members play a role in serving Indigenous communities with inspection and construction of safe, healthy, and energy-efficient houses for the north. In the past few years, regional technical construction documents have been produced in various forms and complexity. This guide differs from those regional documents and is unique in the following three ways: 

  • This TGNH provides user-friendly illustrated booklets that outline “best practices” for building solutions in house construction. The guide seeks to cover all northern and remote regions, including the arctic and subarctic First Nations and Inuit Nunangat regions (as noted, aside from Northern Ontario, the other booklets are in development). To cover this vast area, 14 overview booklets of the sub-regions are being developed to show the distinct challenges within each sub-region. Eleven technical booklets cover the house design and construction process.

  • The TGNH Appendix also presents “community-based” house designs developed from consulting and engaging with Indigenous communities. A team of Indigenous architects completed the consultations and produced house designs in 2020 that capture the direct housing needs of the First Nations community. The Inuit house designs presented are as-built designs developed over the years with ongoing consultations with the architectural team.

  • This TGNH provides information on the governance and challenges of construction in the north. It should be used by anyone working in the construction industry or providing construction supplies to the north.

Overview booklets

Northern British Columbia

Northern Alberta

Northern Saskatchewan

Northern Manitoba

Northern Ontario

Technical booklets for Northern Ontario

Part 1: Geotechnical approaches — Managing the ground conditions in your community

Part 2: Mechanical systems — The technical connections to the land/community

Part 3: The primary elements of a house — Keeping the heat in, and the snow, wind and rain out

Part 4: Fire safety — Facing the greatest technical risk

All Northern Ontario documents

Northern Québec

Yukon

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Nunatsiavut

Inuvialuit

Example Northern house designs

NOTICE: The architecture plans and drawings in the technical guide are solely for information purposes and will not be used in the construction of any projects without first seeking professional and legal advice and how these plans will impact your community.

These documents are also not available in French.

Feedback about the Technical Guide for Northern Housing (TGNH)