🛠️ Factory-Built Homes vs. the Cost of Chaos: Can Modular Be More Affordable, Convenient — and Beautiful?

Creating new housing in Canada isn’t just expensive — it’s chaotic.

Costs swing.
Timelines slip.
Builders face labour shortages, supply delays, and unpredictable weather.

And homeowners? They’re stuck paying the price.

But what if a big part of this chaos could be solved before the first shovel hits the ground?

This week on Canada Now, I sit down with Rohe Homes co-founders Rohan Kulkarni and Salik Khan to unpack one of the most misunderstood — and most promising — solutions in Canadian housing: factory-built modular homes.

And yes… the modern version is nothing like the stereotypes.

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Canada is finally talking about factory-built homes as a real path forward — not as a fringe idea, but as a scalable way to build faster, cut costs, and meet record-breaking housing demand.

But Rohe Homes isn’t doing “prefab” the way most people imagine.

They’re building high-quality, beautifully designed modular homes that unfold onsite in 4–6 hours — the building envelope delivered in one piece, weather-protected, airtight, energy-efficient, and built in a controlled environment.

This eliminates so much of what the duo calls “the cost of chaos”:

For homeowners and municipalities wrestling with affordability, timelines, and the “missing middle,” modular isn’t just a cool technology — it’s a practical alternative to Canada’s broken construction process.

One of Rohe’s most compelling examples is a recent laneway home in Squamish, BC, designed for intergenerational living. With their 730 sq. ft. “lock-up kit”, the homeowners now have a 1,460 sq. ft. accessory dwelling — a complete two-storey home assembled far faster than traditional construction would allow.

Instead of months of backyard disruption, the building envelope arrived as a single foldable structure and was installed in just six hours.

→ Watch the 6-hour installation (time lapse):

Watching it is wild — it looks like future tech arriving by truck.

This is the kind of innovation Canada needs if we’re serious about gentle density, aging in place, missing middle housing, and helping families unlock opportunities on their own land.

One of the most fascinating parts of this conversation was how modular homes can serve places traditional construction struggles to reach.

Rohe has shipped modular envelopes to communities across BC — including the Interior and wildfire-affected regions — and their system is designed to work even for ferry-dependent islands.

Imagine rebuilding after a disaster in weeks, not years, with predictable costs and less site disruption.

This isn’t theory — they’ve already done it.

Rohe broke down a few key points every Canadian should understand:

Modular ≠ Manufactured Homes
Manufactured homes follow different rules (and stigma).
Modular homes like Rohe’s are built to the same or higher standards as traditional construction.

Prefab ≠ Cheap
Modern prefab can be architecturally stunning — and in many cases, more precise and energy-efficient.

Modular Doesn’t Mean “One Design Fits All”
Rohe works with architects, builders, and homeowners to deliver a versatile building envelope that can become:

Modular actually increases choice — not limits it.

Rohe Homes has partnered with several renowned local architects — to showcase the diverse possibilities with factory-built multiplexes:

Tony Osborn Architecture + Design Inc. 
BOBO Architecture Inc.
Design Architecture Everyday Inc. 

This might be the future.

Rohe’s AI-driven lot analysis tool will allow homeowners to instantly understand:

It’s the beginning of a world where everyday Canadians become small-scale housing creators, not just buyers or renters.

That mindset shift alone could unlock thousands of homes across the country.

Factory-Built Homes vs. the Cost of Chaos: Can Modular Be More Affordable, Convenient — and Beautiful?

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We talk a lot about building more homes in Canada.

We talk a lot less about how those homes should be built — and whether our current process is even capable of delivering the scale we need.

After this conversation, one thing is clear:
The future of Canadian housing is going to involve factories.

And if Rohe Homes has anything to say about it, it will also be beautiful, energy-efficient, and accessible.

This is the kind of innovation our country needs — practical, scalable, and rooted in the lives of real people. More of this, please.

→ Subscribe to Canada Now for new episodes each week — and help shape Canada’s next chapter.

Rohan Kulkarni and Salik Khan are the co-founders behind Rohe Homes, a modular housing startup reshaping how Canadians think about homebuilding. With complementary backgrounds spanning construction innovation, design, and customer experience, they’ve created a system that delivers beautiful, high-quality homes with a fraction of the chaos of traditional construction. Rohe’s work spans laneway homes, multiplexes, rural builds, and post-disaster recovery — all with the goal of empowering homeowners to grow the communities they want to live in.

Rohe Homes | Website | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

Be sure to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform so you don’t miss the episodes to come. And if you like what you hear, sharing the show with a friend goes a long way in helping us grow.

We’re writing the next chapter in Canada — and it starts now. 🍁

If you’re a fan of Canadian innovation and curated Canadian content, check out some of my other favourite newsletters on Beehiiv! 🐝👇

— Ashley Smith (@ashleysmithnow)

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