Why a co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods is betting prefab housing has a bright future in Canada

Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeInnovationReal EstateWhy a co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods is betting prefab housing has a bright future in CanadaHousing market analysts say many more homes in North America could be pre-fabricated in plantsLast updated 10 minutes ago Hansen-MacDonald is optimistic that the prefab market is growing, and he already estimates that about five per cent of Canadian homes are built off-site. Photo by TIM KROCHAK/PostmediaA private family company tied to a co-founder of Clearwater Seafoods is betting that Canada can significantly expand the amount of factory-built housing it constructs each year.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountPrefabricated housing, in which a home or more often parts of a home, such as walls, are built inside a factory rather than on site, has long been seen by experts as a way to improve housing affordability by reducing the overall cost and increasing the pace of construction.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HanMac Capital, an investment firm owned by the family of Clearwater co-founder Colin MacDonald, is already a majority investor in Ontario-based AXYZ Automation Group, which produces automated cutting machines for the construction industry. Now, AXYZ is planning to release a new class of machines in October marketed to small- to medium-sized homebuilders that want to automate parts of their processes.SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: FP West: Energy Insider brings you behind the oilpatch’s closed doors with exclusive insights from insiders every Wednesday morning.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of FP West: Energy Insider will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“If you want to start producing prefabricated housing across Canada, not every company can afford to build a $100-million factory,” said Luke Hansen-MacDonald, MacDonald’s son and the chair of AXYZ. “A lot of the players that work in this industry, they want to partially automate, which is what we do.”AXYZ, based outside Hamilton, Ont., in Waterdown, specializes in CNC router machines, an automated tool that uses computer software to precisely cut materials, such as wood or metal.Hansen-MacDonald said AXYZ, which has sold thousands of machines around the world, spent the past 18 months developing machines specifically targeted for residential buildings, such as three- or four-story apartments or much larger residential towers.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.He estimated the machines will cost several hundred thousand dollars apiece, with the exact price varying.“We’re talking about a machine that you feed in a 20-foot piece of material and it would become a wall,” said Hansen-MacDonald.Based on the designs of the building, the CNC machines cut spaces for a door, window, staircase, vent or whatever the case may be.Housing market analysts say more homes in North America could be built in plants. The idea is to bring the same manufacturing techniques used in the auto sector to housing construction to obtain efficiencies of scale and other benefits, such as year-round work.The often-invoked metaphor is that it would be more expensive to build a car in your driveway than it is to build off-site in a modernized assembly plant.Hansen-MacDonald and others emphasize that when it comes to pre-built housing, a spectrum exists: An entire house can be built inside a factory and shipped to the end site, but it is also possible to build select parts inside a factory and ship those.Compared to other countries, Canada lags in this area. The federal government estimates that only two per cent of the country’s homes were built through off-site methods compared to 45 per cent in Sweden or 15 per cent in Japan.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Meanwhile, housing affordability remains an ongoing issue. Recent Statistics Canada surveys show 23 per cent of Canadian households live in housing that is unaffordable to them — defined as spending 30 per cent or more of their income on shelter costs.The Carney government has emphasized that it sees pre-built or modular housing as a solution to the country’s deepening housing affordability crisis, and said in its September 2025 housing strategy that it would deploy capital for prefabricated, modular, and panelized factory-built housing.“Our belief is with the federal government’s focus on it, this will become a larger market over time,” said Hansen-MacDonald.Despite the push to industrialize homebuilding in Canada, analysts say there are many hurdles, including a highly fragmented regulatory landscape, in which thousands of municipalities across the country each use their own zoning and bylaws to police what types of homes are built. The lack of uniformity in codes makes it difficult to produce anything at scale, they say.Still, Hansen-MacDonald is optimistic that the market is growing, and he already estimates that about five per cent of Canadian homes are built off-site.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.The advantage that his company has, he says, is that the other companies targeting small and medium Canadian homebuilders are all located overseas in Europe or Asia. Hansen-MacDonald said he hopes to tap into the wave of national pride, embodied in the Buy Canadian motto, and at the same time help address the housing crisis and grow a business.“The prefab industry is a tricky one because in Canada only five per cent of houses are prefab,” he said. “But if that turns to 10 per cent or 20 per cent, this is a huge opportunity.”We apologize, but this video has failed to load.This advertisement has not loaded yet.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.