Watch above: High school students in Saskatoon are building homes from the ground up and are getting more out of it than just trades skills. Aaron Streck tells us the homes are destined for the Whitecap Dakota First Nation.
SASKATOON – Since Feb. 12, students enrolled in the High School Carpentry Apprenticeship Program (HCAP) have been learning hands-on how to build an entire house.
“I don’t even know, I couldn’t even fathom how many actual man hours it took,” said HCAP student Micheal Souter.
“Didn’t think we would actually get it done in time, I don’t know why but to see that it’s finally built and all … it’s great pleasure.”
“When we started this it was concrete floor, we did everything including building the cribbing, put the beams on, put the joists on the beams and started from there, went straight up through the floor and right to the shingles on the roof,” said HCAP coordinator Don McDonald.
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There’s been some frustration, wrong cuts and set backs but all the hard work that went into this 1,000 square foot home has been worth it.
“In six months or so a family’s actually going to be living in a house we built by ourselves, I think that’s the greatest achievement of all,” said Souter.
“For years they’ll be able to drive by this place and say we built this house,” said McDonald.
This will be the fourth HCAP house in recent years destined for the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, which supplied all the building materials. With housing demand increasing there a new five-year agreement for five homes was announced Friday.
“You look at our province and our average age of a journeyperson is 55, there’s so much opportunity for these young people with the retirement of the baby boomers so it was a no-brainer for us to be a part of this project,” said Chief Darcy Bear from Whitecap Dakota First Nation.
The home is expected to make the trek from Mount Royal Collegiate to Whitecap on Tuesday.
HCAP has operated since 2004 with a focus on housing construction and related trades.
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