The co-founder of an Indigenous-owned, tiny home manufacturer in Brantford, Ont., says he’s “utterly appalled” at the City of Hamilton’s decision to order cabins for its first outdoor shelter from a different company that ended up getting them from China.
Grand River Modular’s chief operating officer, Matthew Jacznik, told CBC Hamilton his team had reached out to municipalities, including Hamilton, in the spring and summer to pitch their made-in-Brantford tiny homes.
Their shelters are designed to withstand cold winters, meet Ontario building standards and be used as additional housing in residents’ backyards or by municipalities to shelter people experiencing homelessness, he said.
“Every time we reached out [to Hamilton], we’ve been given the ‘that’s really interesting’ and never hear anything back,” Jacznik said.
Recently, Grand River Modular learned from news reports that the city had awarded a contract to MicroShelters Inc. a company Jacznik said Grand River Modular “didn’t even know existed,” despite the fact MicroShelters is also registered in Brantford.
“At first it was really exciting and really great that people are making an effort to get people out of tents,” said Jacznik.
Hamilton’s decision came under fire because MicroShelters lacked a track record, and for the $35,000 cost for each of its tiny shelters that were made in China and were hit by delivery delays. The units arrived this month.
How the process has played out in Hamilton has left Jacznik and his colleagues concerned about the reputation of not only the burgeoning tiny homes industry, but also Indigenous-owned businesses, he said. Jacznik isn’t Indigenous, but other co-founders and executives at Grand River Modular are.
“The image is really, really damaged and it’s going to take some recovery,” he said. “[I’ve heard] some almost racially charged comments about what had happened there.
“It may give councils and the public a bad taste for tiny homes and potentially [our] business.”
City says it selected option that met criteria
MicroShelters did not respond to CBC Hamilton’s request for comment.
On its website, it promotes itself as an Indigenous-owned, Brantford-based company and is a member of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business.
It was incorporated in August 2024 — the same month Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath directed staff to begin planning a temporary outdoor shelter site to be done by December.
“MicroShelters reached out to the city after the mayor’s directive was made public,” said Michelle Baird, director of housing services, in an email statement Wednesday.
“Irrespective of who initiated contact, all vendors were assessed on their ability to meet the city’s requirement.”
In September, council approved staff to go ahead with a sole-source contract so they wouldn’t have to evaluate multiple bids on a short timeline.
The city ordered 40 tiny homes — each costing $35,000 and big enough to house two people — from MicroShelters on Oct. 17, Baird said.
Staff have since told councillors that they weren’t aware of all the details about MicroShelters or that MicroShelters would be ordering the tiny homes from China through an American company.
Staff have also confirmed to reporters that they didn’t check the company’s track record or review a model in person, but rather relied on images from the company’s website.
It later turned out those images appeared to be the same as the ones used by an unrelated company and of a project in Salt Lake City, Utah. MicroShelters has since taken them down.
Many local manufacturers in Ontario
Jacznik said he’s “very confident” Grand River Modular would have been able to build the tiny homes in Brantford, and deliver within two months and for under $35,000 each. He said a final amount would depend on various site factors. His company, which employs eight people, uses locally sourced materials.
But MicroShelters was ultimately chosen because it claimed it could meet the city’s timeline and its foldable, steel cabins were big enough for two people, Baird said.
She added the city was looking for tiny homes that had the ability to collapse so they could be reused in future emergencies such as disaster relief.
NOW Housing, based in Cambridge, Ont., was also frustrated by the city’s choice in supplier, said president Matthew Lubberts. NOW has provided tiny homes to the Region of Waterloo and City of Peterborough for people experiencing homelessness, and knows of several other businesses doing similar work.
“I don’t see the need to go outside Ontario for any municipality to build this type of housing for any demographic,” he told CBC Hamilton.
Lubberts said he’d be concerned about the quality of tiny homes if they were designed in China, which has a different climate and building standards than Ontario. But if they were pre-designed here and then made in China, they would likely be “fine.”
It’s not known how exactly they were designed, as MicroShelters has previously told CBC Hamilton all aspects of its business are “proprietary and confidential.”
Council orders review of contract
Staff will be required to conduct a review of the contract with MicroShelters and an evaluation of the units in terms of “value for money,” as directed in a motion passed by council Wednesday.
“Obviously this is a fairly significant public concern at the moment,” said Coun. John-Paul Danko (Ward 8), who put forward the motion.
Coun, Tom Jackson (Ward 6) said he wished a first-of-a-kind “project of this magnitude” had rolled out smoother. It should’ve been a “good news story,” he said.
“The commentary I’m receiving is we kind of stumbled, and fumbled and bumbled our way out of the gate with the best of intentions, to fast track a project for housing, but the optics have not been good,” Jackson said. “The optics have been horrible.”
Staff are expected to present their review at a general issues committee meeting in March.
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