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When you walk into the Kent Homes in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, the first message you hear is simple: we build homes.
“It’s so great to see just how proud our members working at Kent Homes are of what they do everyday: build great, affordable housing in a factory setting,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “They’re showing what’s possible when we use Canadian labour and Canadian materials to meet real needs here at home. We can support good forestry jobs and also face the housing crisis in our country head on with industrial solutions. Kent Homes is a symbol of what’s possible.”
Kent Homes is represented by Unifor Local 62-N and employs roughly 160 Unifor members across a wide range of trades and roles from cleaners, warehouse workers, and Red Seal tradespeople. Members bring carpentry, electrical, plumbing, drywall, roofing, finishing, and installation expertise to what is essentially a “Canadian home assembly line.” In a climate-controlled facility, teams can keep production moving regardless of winter weather or job-site delays.
“I’m incredibly proud of the work our members are doing here,” says Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray. “Unifor members at Kent Homes are helping tackle the housing crisis by delivering high-quality, affordable homes faster than traditional construction, including projects right here in Atlantic Canada and on Prince Edward Island. These are union-built homes that working families can afford, and they’re making a real difference in communities that desperately need housing now.”
Workers describe an average timeline of about 14 days to produce a home, with the capacity to turn out 10 to 12 homes per week depending on the mix of projects. It’s a pace that matters in a region where housing demand is rising, and housing costs are weighing hard on Canadians.
Workers at Kent Homes have produced modules for six-storey, multi-family wood-frame builds, showing that modular construction can support the kinds of projects Canada needs to meaningfully increase housing supply.
"The way we build quality homes is something we can use to create a partnership with Canadian labour and resources, and begin to focus on affordability so that the next generation of working people can start to think about the possibility of buying a home,” says Perry Romard, President of Unifor Local 62-N.
“The members of Local 62-N are proving that our work can be a pivotal part of the solution of the housing crisis facing Canadians today. And workplaces like this can do it faster, safer, and directly in communities where we need good union jobs and affordable homes right now."
