News & Events

A Milestone Moment: Our First Official Tiny Home Completion

A Milestone Moment!

We’re thrilled to share an incredible milestone: the first official tiny home built through our Housing Construction Training Program is now complete.

This tiny home represents more than lumber, nails, and blueprints; it means opportunity, community, and a new path forward for everyone involved.

This home will soon be returned to the community as affordable housing, helping support someone facing housing insecurity. It’s a meaningful full-circle moment that is built for the community, by the community.

About Our Housing Construction Training Programs

Our Housing Construction Training programs are microcredential initiatives designed to provide participants with the skills needed to work on housing construction jobsites. These programs emphasize hands-on, practical training, offering participants full-time paid work experience, microcredential badges pre-apprenticeship hours, Cooperative Education credits (one credit per 80 hours of internship), safety certifications, tools, personal protective equipment, and job coaching preparing them for careers in the trades sector.

Our programs intentionally reduce participation barriers and create supportive pathways into the trades for a diverse range of learners. Our intake process is designed to ensure accessibility and support for those facing barriers to employment, fostering an inclusive learning environment.

Participants also have the opportunity to earn high school credits, thanks to partnerships with the Government of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton University, and the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education (AVRCE). This holistic approach ensures that participants are not only gaining technical skills but are also advancing their educational and career aspirations.

Participant Impact

Over the past several months, two Cohorts (12 participants) in the Tiny Home Construction Fundamentals Program and the Tiny Home Construction Finishing Program worked to build and finish this tiny home from the ground up. This wasn’t just a classroom project, it was real, hands-on construction experience with direct community impact.

Over the course of the Tiny Home Construction Fundamentals Program, participants learned to safely use hand and power tools, selected appropriate materials and fasteners, and completed key structural tasks such as building floor systems, framing walls, installing trusses, windows, and doors, and preparing the building envelope for net-zero readiness.

In the Tiny Home Construction Finishing program, participants gained practical finishing skills including drywall installation and crack filling, exterior cladding, trim and cabinetry installation, flooring, basic stair construction, and exposure to essential mechanical systems that support home performance.

Many participants will go on to pursue apprenticeships, careers, or additional training in the construction industry. This build has helped them take that first step.

Community Impact

Each Tiny Home build creates real impact in our community by strengthening the workforce, supporting local businesses, and investing in the regional economy.

Skilled Workforce Development

Every build produces 12-24 newly skilled individuals, trained and ready to enter the construction industry. We work with local businesses, employers, and training sites to ensure participants gain hands-on experience that directly aligns with real job opportunities.

Economic Impact at a Glance

Community Partnerships

By collaborating with local suppliers, employers, and training partners, each project strengthens the entire housing ecosystem — from education to employment, from raw materials to finished homes.