GroundTRUTH Lab Toronto Metropolitan University

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From Harvest to House

Active

From Harvest to House is co-led by Helen Stopps and Sarah Haines. It connects researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto with roughly ten First Nations communities, provincial and territorial agencies, Tribal Councils and private organizations to co-develop approaches to sustainable and equitable Indigenous housing. Housing assessments, environmental monitoring, workshops and training are shaped by community priorities and support longer-term housing self-sufficiency.

Work completed so far

A two-day workshop brought together people involved in housing across six communities in the Prince Albert Grand Council to map what home means and how housing systems shape everyday life. Housing-condition assessments in two Saskatchewan First Nations examined walls, roofs, windows and foundations, while low-cost sensors recorded temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and fine particles in participating homes.

What the workshops added

The workshop connected conditions inside homes with the systems around them. Participants identified housing shortages and overcrowding, mould and moisture, limited access to tools and materials, training needs, unreliable infrastructure and external funding processes. They also identified practical routes toward greater self-sufficiency, including local maintenance skills, stocked supplies and repair knowledge.

What the combined evidence supports

A technical inspection can identify a leak or failed component, but it cannot explain why the failure happened, who has authority to act or what residents need. Placing measurements and community knowledge together can produce retrofit, maintenance and training priorities that are technically grounded and locally useful.

From the workshop

Two details from community rich-picture drawings showing home-repair tools, maintenance knowledge and their links to a healthy home
Maintenance as part of a healthy home. Workshop participants drew tools, supplies and practical knowledge as part of the path toward healthier housing and greater local self-sufficiency.Figure 2 from Wong et al. (2026), Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. Reproduced unchanged under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
From Harvest to House workshop team gathered around the project display
The workshop team. Community and academic collaborators brought housing experience, technical knowledge and facilitation together in the From Harvest to House workshops.

Community collaborators

Becky Big Canoe

A member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and an Indigenous housing and land-justice consultant. She has helped the collaboration connect housing research with community priorities and lived experience.

Natalie Clyke

A member of White Bear First Nations, housing advocate and founder of Rocktree MgO Construction Materials Inc. She works with the team on community housing challenges, locally relevant materials and relationships with Saskatchewan First Nations.

Co-directors and collaborators

  • Sarah Haines (University of Toronto, co-director)
  • Nicholas Spence (University of Toronto)
  • Becky Big Canoe
  • Natalie Clyke

Students

  • Odel Linetska (MASc, completed 2025)
  • Michael Wong (MASc, completed 2024)
  • Tiffany Realegeno (MBSc, completed 2025)
  • Daniel Wolinski (BArchSc, co-supervised)
  • Fatima Ahmed (PhD, University of Toronto)

Papers