Soft soil adds $10 million to Ottawa police station in Barrhaven

Construction continues on the new Ottawa Police Service south facility on Prince of Wales Drive. May 9, 2025. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

Soft soil conditions at the site of the new Ottawa police station in Barrhaven have added $10 million to the price tag.

The new Ottawa Police Service south facility project is being built at 3305 Prince of Wales Drive. Police have said the new “south facility is critical to support necessary and evolving operations” for the service.

Last May, police said the opening of the new facility has been delayed until 2027, in part due to issues related to soft soil at the site that was not discovered until construction.

“While pre-construction geotechnical testing was conducted in line with leading practices, the full extent of below surface conditions became apparent only during piling work,” police said on May 9, 2025. “These challenges have since been resolved, and the project team does not anticipate any further issues.”

A report for the Ottawa Police Service Board’s finance and audit committee shows $10 million of contingency funding is “directly attributed to unforeseen soil conditions” at the site in Ottawa’s Barrhaven neighbourhood.

The new facility is expected to cost $187.8 million, up from the initial $118.2 million approved in 2021.

Staff say the south facility project has seen “important progress and milestone achievements” over the past year, “including completion of foundation, structural and concrete works, as well as completion of roofing installation and building envelope, including full building enclosure.”

Construction is now 73 per cent complete, according to the report, with foundations, steel structure, building envelope and roof installation complete.

“Construction has moved to the interior, where we are seeing rapid progress on interior partitions and the start of finishing,” the report said.

“Tenant Fit-Up activities are progressing well leading into procurement packages for furniture and equipment.”

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