In a small factory in Granby, Que., south of Montreal, workers are preparing steel-reinforced concrete panels to be shipped to construction sites.

These prefabricated components can come with insulation, windows, doors and even a Juliet balcony.

"I call it 'ready-to-wear' for construction," said Virginie Brouillard, vice-president of Avac Beton, which was founded by her family four decades ago.

The idea, said Daniel Goodfellow, a housing developer who joined the company's ownership in 2021, is to …