Frontier Collegiate carpentry students build affordable housing in Cranberry Portage

Adult carpentry students at the Northern Technical Centre (NTC) at Frontier Collegiate Institute (FCI) helped provide housing in Cranberry Portage while working towards their Level 1 carpentry apprenticeship and high school graduation.

As part of Frontier School Division's Ready-to-Move (RTM) project, the students built to ready-to-move homes in Cranberry Portage with support from Manitoba Housing and Community Development. The carpentry students and their instructors also constructed basements for the three-bedroom family homes, which are located on Lake Trout Bay.

The project cost $484,000 and the resulting homes will be rented to low- to moderate-income families with the monthly rent pegged to the families' incomes. The projected move-in date is Nov. 1 and the home will be managed by Manitoba Housing and Community Development through The Pas district office.

“We are increasing opportunities for students to gain needed work skills and help build their future close to home in Manitoba,” said Housing and Community Development Minister Peter Bjornson Sept. 18. “We are committed to continuing this partnership with the Frontier School Division, which has already created more affordable housing for families in Cranberry Portage.”

Bjornson said the new housing in Cranberry Portage helped the provincial government achieve its five-year goal of funding the construction of 1,500 new units of affordable housing and 1,500 social-housing units throughout Manitoba.

“Frontier Collegiate Institute has been providing quality educational opportunities for students in over 30 communities in Northern Manitoba for almost 50 years,” said Frontier School Division chief superintendent Ray Derksen. “We are pleased the Manitoba government chose to invest in this unique program.”