New program training Indigenous housing inspectors in the North

When Stan Knight worked as an RCMP officer in northern Manitoba and Nunavut, he said he noticed the degree to which proper housing – or a lack thereof – can influence social issues.

Now retired from police work, he started Zachary Knight Enterprises and the Inspector in a Box program to improve housing conditions and build a skilled workforce across the North.

The program trains Indigenous home inspectors in isolated communities to document the condition of an existing home, then create a scope of work and list of repairs required to bring the home to a livable standard.

While there is a fee to take the program, Knight said his company can help communities and First Nations apply for grants to cover associated costs.

In the NWT, houses needing major repairs formed the most common housing issue in 2024 and affected 18 percent of households according to a territorial government needs assessment report published in March 2026.

Knight said a lot of communities pay “a premium” to get inspectors and contractors to a site.

“We thought, ‘why don’t we train them remotely and send them tools to do data collection?'” said Knight.

His company will then interpret the data for the inspectors in training and produce inspection reports, scopes of work, cost estimates and funding applications.

Knight uses this data to access energy rebate programs on behalf of the homeowner or the community, which can be used to offset the cost of renovations.

In addition to building a skilled workforce, Knight said the program also works to help keep project revenues in the hands of community members.

“About $2 billion a year goes into the Indigenous housing ecosystem with new construction and renovation, repair,” said Knight.

“Right now, about 80 to 90 percent of that is actually leaving in the pockets of consultants and contractors that really have no vested interest in the economic development of these communities they’re working in.”

Knight said he experienced this firsthand at a lumber supply company, where he heard contractors colluding to overcharge First Nations for construction projects or referring to reservations as “dirty.”

While clients typically withhold 10 percent of a total fee until construction is complete, Knight said he has seen some companies overbid to such a degree that they would walk away from a project before it was finished, leaving behind broken plumbing, design mistakes and substandard work.

Training people to do work in their own communities means they are likely to have an inherent interest in properly completing projects, he said.

Home repair program

Knight said he approached the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation about his Inspector in a Box program. While they loved the idea, they didn’t have the staff or a housing department to support it.

With Knight’s help, the LKFN launched a home renovation grant program earlier this year.

“We decided to pilot a housing manager support program, where we put all the pieces in place to stand up a housing program, and then identify and train a local candidate to take over that role,” said Knight.

LKFN Chief Kele Antoine said a trainee has been hired and is now working full time to assess homes and make a plan for completing repairs.

“We wanted to really look at a lot of the homes in the community and not ignore them, because there’s been many, many years of not enough maintenance, not enough support to provide that maintenance,” said Chief Antoine.

“There’s health issues but also cost issues of running a home that’s inefficient, putting a burden on a lot of our Elders and those that are retired pensioners.”

Antoine said a lack of capacity for projects like this is something many communities across the North face, but Knight’s model could help tackle the problem.

“It’s not just about someone coming in, doing the work and then leaving, and there’s no capacity development, [it’s] leaving behind something so that work can continue, and I think that that model there can be used not just in housing, but in a lot of different things,” said Antoine.

Nunavut program for women

Knight said he’s also working to launch a program dedicated to training women to be home inspectors in Nunavut.

He’s hoping to train three women in the next year and another 10 the following year, with the goal of eventually having an Indigenous woman trained as a home inspector in every Nunavut community.

He said one candidate for the program works in a diamond mine where she spends three weeks at the mine and three weeks at home. However, the income she earns is often swallowed by childcare expenses incurred while she’s away.

“We want to provide an occupation where the business actually fits around their lifestyle, as opposed to their life fitting around their business,” said Knight.

His company and a scholarship program he created are each named for his son, who died by suicide at the age of 16.

“We want his name to be synonymous with having an impact in Indigenous housing,” Knight said.