Mikhail Prokhorov plans to provide Japan with 1,000 Canadian-built homes to help the country recover from an earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 12,000 people.

Viceroy Homes, the Canadian unit of Prokhorov's Opin property developer, will ship the first 160 pre-engineered houses to Japan over the next three weeks, Opin said Thursday.

The Ontario-based company is selling the units "at close to cost" to its Japanese partner Selco Homes, which has a contract with the Japanese government to provide temporary shelter for disaster victims, Opin said. The units are "very basic" single-family homes of about 30 square meters, containing a common area, bedroom, kitchen and washroom.

(Bloomberg)