NEWS RELEASES

April 22, 1996 No. 75

EGGLETON OPENS CANADIAN PLACE IN SENDAI

The Honourable Art Eggleton, Minister for International Trade, today officially opened Canadian Place, a new housing development of 59 Canadian homes, in the city of Sendai in northern Japan.

Developed by Selco Homes of Sendai, Canadian Place features homes supplied by three Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Nu-Fab of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Royal Homes of Wingham, Ontario, and Newton Homes, of Newton, Manitoba.

"Canadian Place is a testament to the success of Canadian SMEs in the Japanese market," said Mr. Eggleton. "It is a celebration of the fact that Canada is now the largest supplier of pre-fabricated housing to Japan and it is a real Team Canada achievement."

Mr. Eggleton attributed the significant growth of the North American style wood-frame construction in Japan to deregulation efforts by the Japanese government and to the changing tastes and needs of Japanese consumers.

North American style wood-frame construction is rapidly gaining popularity in Japan because of its durability, speed and ease of construction, resistance to earthquakes, high insulation features and western-style design.

Selco Homes is one of the world's premier importers of Canadian manufactured homes. These homes incorporate finished building products manufactured by Canadian companies such as Loewen Windows of Steinbach, Manitoba, Gentech of Dalton, Quebec, and Madawaska Doors of Bolton, Ontario. In 1995, Selco Homes imported an estimated 400 homes from five Canadian exporters: Royal Homes, Nu-Fab, Newton Homes, Viceroy of Scarborough, Ontario, and MMH Prestige of Sussex, New Brunswick. The developer plans to purchase and sell over 600 homes from these five suppliers this year.

The homes are manufactured in Canada and shipped in package form together with a number of high value-added housing components such as windows, doors, kitchen cabinets, staircases and flooring. Significant labour cost savings are achieved because the homes are partly assembled before being shipped to Japan.

Canadian exports of manufactured homes to Japan grew from $54 million in 1994 to over $130 million in 1995. These exports are expected to double again in 1996. According to the Japanese Customs Office, Canada surpassed the United States in 1995 to become the world's largest exporter of pre-fabricated buildings to Japan.

Over 120 small and medium-sized Canadian companies are active in the Japanese housing market.

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