City not ruling out legal action as Ottawa’s new central library a year late and over budget

A photo of the Adisoke library as presented to Ottawa's finance and corporate services committee on Dec. 2, 2025. (City of Ottawa)

The City of Ottawa is not ruling out legal action against the contractor building the Ādisōke Library as the project’s price tag approaches $352 million — nearly double its original budget.

The new central library at Lebreton Flats was to be completed in January and the last public update said it was expected to open this spring. But the building remains 85 per cent done, and no opening date has been announced.

City staff sought an extra $18.5 million in funding at the city’s finance committee last week, $11.5 million from the city with the feds to cover the rest as a joint project with Library and Archives Canada. The Ottawa Public Library is the third partner.

Speaking after the committee, Tammy Rose, the city’s General Manager of Infrastructure, said the project was past due and the funding was for the city’s own oversight and contingencies.

“This is not a construction-based extension or anything, this is money to be able to finish the project,” she said.

Rose said $6.2 million of the city’s share would go toward continuity of the project, including external costs and experts. She said the rest would go to contingency funds.

The new increase would bring the total project budget to $352 million, up from the most recent budget of $333.8 million. In 2021, it was $306 million. The original budget was $175 million.

The report to committee said the contractor’s updated timeline was December 2026 but staff did not believe that was “achievable.” It said the contractor’s schedule had “not stabilized” and has faced “additional delays.”

The city says that timeline is under review.

The contractor on the project, PCL Construction, was contractually to be done in January.

In response to questions about delays and city staff’s lack of faith in their timeline, a statement from PCL pointed to ‘evolving’ expectations.

“As with any large and complex project, evolving requirements and requests can influence construction schedules,” it said.

“PCL Construction remains focused on managing these impacts, while maintaining both the safety of our workers and the quality of the build.”

It said it remained committed to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to complete the project and directed any further questions back to the city.

A statement from Bruce Kenny, the City’s Director of Infrastructure Services for Special Projects, didn’t respond to PCL’s comment on expectations but said it would continue to review the contractor’s schedule and provide public updates.

The statement said, “The focus remains to ensure the interests of taxpayers and value for money are maintained.”

“The City, along with its partners, share the community’s interest in seeing this important public facility delivered responsibly and remain committed to keeping Council and residents informed as the project progresses.”

Asked if the city was seeking damages, Kenny’s statement didn’t close the door.

“Any potential remedies related to the Ādisōke project cannot be shared at this time, as these may include potential legal avenues to recover costs if necessary.”

The new funding request will go to city council for approval on Wednesday.

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