Olympic Building Supplies has been engaged in the serious problem of First Nations housing since 1991 when they opened a division led by Bob Topp. The company has been putting housing into remote northern communities ever since, often using innovative designs and materials, moving housing by whatever method it takes to get there.
These are ready to move stick-built houses, and they moved housing units to Fort Severn, Ontario, the northern-most community in the province, these containing SIP (structurally insulated panels) built by a manufacturer in Calgary, “The community is using oil heat above the tree line and the federal government pays for the shipping of this at great expense. The EMER CORE building envelope works to upgrade insulation R-values to an R-44, a true value that is three times the norm, and the federal government is willing to pay for using this in the north.
“We have been in building supply doing everything up to post and frame since I joined in 1991 to created and open up the First Nation division. I have been doing First Nation housing projects myself since 1982,” says Topp. “We are two guys running the division both working directly with First Nation communities. The division is now called northern sales, or Wakeegan, and I’ve been doing it long enough for some of the chiefs to remember me from their youth.”
He says Olympic is always ready to improve design and quality to fit limited budgets or build for extreme weather condition, “SIP Panel engineered systems were delivered to Fort Severn because the feds pay for heating oil, and we justified the expense by factoring in the amount allowed by CMHC per house. A typical house in that region costs $7000 a year to heat.”
Over the years Olympic has been engaged with numerous communities, considering Olympic Supply Northern Division contains decades of management experience working with First Nation on various building projects. “We work with design and quality of products and we’ve looked at many new ways and changed a lot of things within our department. We are enthusiastic about new products."
The material-delivered house is built with Olympic designs and plans, and post and frame buildings, or SIP panel building, “Whatever they are calling for we pull it together. The northern market is a natural play for our company and, in 1991. we concentrated more business development in northwest Ontario and northern Manitoba."
The company is careful to build financial relationships, "selective in making sure we get paid and jobs are getting done, everything is arranged to move onto site. The division employs five or six guys. Trying to fill a market with good business relationships and that at the end of the day with projects that stand up to the test of time.”
Relationships and buildings are both long-standing, says Topp, “Jim Moyr and myself have 60 plus years combined, and I will eventually be replaced by the likes of Andre Bayrack who is here now. He needs four or five years under his belt.”
Topp adds, “We’ve been involved in all types of building. We do multi-housing, band offices, crisis centres, police centres, stores, arenas, and various other buildings. One of the advantages we have our own design departments, taking design to a certain level, short of architecture, functional buildings like funeral homes, gas stations (one of these recently finished at Broken head First Nation).”
He says the commercial and residential and northern market focus will continue, “Another thing we do for First Nation communities is expedite product. We can move equipment and expedite movement of tools, parts, and equipment into communities. Transportation is our real niche. We can FOB to any community so they have a cost based on delivery by either road, winter road, aircraft, barge, rail, even helicopter," (but that’s not a first choice).