Centre Block renovation facing timeline and budget 'pressures'
The multibillion-dollar renovation of Parliament’s Centre Block building continues to be on time and on budget, but construction crews are facing “pressures” when it comes to the deadline and total costs, according to the department in charge of the project.
During a tour with members of the media, senior director for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Siavash Mohajer said the department did plan for some level of inflation but they “didn’t expect 8 per cent”.
Still, PSPC believes it can stay within the budget of $4.5 billion to $5 billion and have the building ready by 2031.
Some delays to the project were factored into that timeline, however, excavating the basement and below the century-old building proved to be more complicated than expected.
“It's the location of it, it's the type of rock that we're dealing with, it's a heritage building,” Mohajer told CTV News. “So, when you combine all these factors, it's hard to find a project of this scale and complexity around the world.”
The most complex part of the dig so far, has been excavating around the foundation of the iconic Peace Tower. Teams have had to follow a very “rigid path,” according to Mohajer, using smaller excavators.
One part of the renovation is installing 800 posts to stabilize the building. A series of one thousand jacks will be used to raise Centre Block and lower it onto a new poling system, which will allow the building to withstand a 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
Some delays to the project were factored into that timeline, however, excavating the basement and below the century-old building proved to be more complicated than expected. (CTV News)
Crews have also dug 92 geothermal wells, down 250 metres, where a new Welcome Centre will sit to heat and cool the renovated building once it's reopened. The move is expected to transform the parliament building from one of the least energy-efficient government buildings to one that meets a net zero-carbon standard.
Keeping construction environmentally friendly has also been a goal from the start, and PSPC says they have managed to divert 95 per cent of construction waste away from landfills. That’s despite carting away 26 million pounds of hazardous materials, including asbestos and lead.
With most of the excavation on the site done, visitors to Parliament Hill will see three new cranes erected on the site. Those cranes will help build the three-story deep visitors centre which will be the newest feature, connecting Centre, East and West Blocks.
The welcome center’s foundation is expected to be finished by 2025.
A photographer takes photos of the House of Commons during a tour of work being completed to Centre block, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press)
Inside the building, the heart of Canada’s democracy has been stripped down to the studs. More than twenty thousand heritage assets are being removed and restored during the project. It includes hundreds of sculptures that adorn the Gothic revival-style building, both inside and out.
Danny Barber has lost count of how many hours he put into restoring a four-hundred-pound sculpture of a bison that hung from one of the exterior walls. However, the stone carver from PSPC’s decorative arts team is happy he is part of this project.
“I'm very proud to have worked on this stone,” Barber told reporters. “This isn't the sort of thing that we get on our workbenches very often, we were born 100 years too late for that.”
The number of MP benches and how much space in the House of Commons is another issue the Centre Block Rehabilitation Program team is currently grappling with. When parliamentarians left the building in 2018, there were 338 members of parliament. That number is going to be 343 in the next election as the Fair Representation Act dictates the number of elected MPs must keep in line with the population growth of the country.
However, the physical space of the House of Commons chamber cannot be expanded, so officials are looking at different options. “We've got to try and incorporate a type of seat - a type of work surface and a typology or a layout that will allow for that flexibility,” said Darrell de Grandmont, the House of Commons lead for the Centre Block Rehabilitation Program.
Canada is looking at possibly using benches or non-assigned seating like the U.K. House of Commons. “We’re at the point right now where we’re looking at mock-ups to have our MPs actually sit in the seats and understand what they’re actually going to be getting,” de Grandmont told CTV News.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
New photos released of Luigi Mangione as prosecutors obtain arrest warrant for suspect in N.Y. shooting
Manhattan prosecutors have obtained a warrant for the arrest of Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO.
'Governor Justin Trudeau': Trump appears to mock PM in social media post
Amid a looming tariff threat, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump appears to be mocking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to him as 'Governor Justin Trudeau' in a post on Truth Social early Tuesday.
Canada announces new sanctions against Chinese, Russian officials
Past and present senior Chinese officials, as well as Russian officials and collaborators, are the subjects of new human rights sanctions, the Canadian government said Tuesday.
'I never got the impression he would self-destruct:' Friends of suspect in fatal CEO shooting left in shock
Months before police identified Luigi Mangione as the man they suspect gunned down a top health insurance CEO and then seemingly vanished from Midtown Manhattan, another disappearing act worried his friends and family.
Google pulls McDonald's negative reviews over arrest in UnitedHealth murder
Google on Monday removed derogatory reviews about McDonald's MCD.N after the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson was arrested at its restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police say a customer alerted a local employee about him.
Canadian man sentenced for embezzling US$1.4 million from employer and clients
U.S. authorities have sentenced a Canadian man to 20 months in prison for a US$1.4-million embezzlement scheme.
Freeland doesn't commit to meeting her own deficit target in fall economic statement
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is not committing to meeting the $40.1-billion deficit target she set for the government last year.
'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton receives Nobel Prize in physics
Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton and co-laureate John Hopfield have received the Nobel Prize for physics at a ceremony in Stockholm.
'I was just trying to help her': Ontario woman loses $14,000 to taxi scam
An Ontario woman thought she was helping another woman pay for their taxi ride, but instead she was defrauded of $14,000.
Local Spotlight
Montreal man retiring early after winning half of the $80 million Lotto-Max jackpot
Factor worker Jean Lamontagne, 63, will retire earlier than planned after he won $40 million on Dec. 3 in the Lotto-Max draw.
Man, 99, still at work 7 decades after opening eastern Ontario Christmas tree farm
This weekend is one of the busiest of the year for Christmas tree farms all over the region as the holidays approach and people start looking for a fresh smell of pine in their homes.
Saskatoon honours Bella Brave with birthday celebration
It has been five months since Bella Thompson, widely known as Bella Brave to her millions of TikTok followers, passed away after a long battle with Hirschsprung’s disease and an auto-immune disorder.
Major Manitoba fossil milestones highlight the potential for future discoveries in the province
A trio of fossil finds through the years helped put Manitoba on the mosasaur map, and the milestone of those finds have all been marked in 2024.
The 61st annual Christmas Daddies Telethon raises more than $559,000 for children in need
The 61st annual Christmas Daddies Telethon continued its proud Maritime tradition, raising more than $559,000 for children in need on Saturday.
Calgary company steps up to help grieving family with free furnace after fatal carbon monoxide poisoning
A Calgary furnace company stepped up big time Friday to help a Calgary family grieving the loss of a loved one.
'A well-loved piece': Historic carousel display from Hudson’s Bay Company store lands at Winnipeg shop
When a carousel setup from the Hudson’s Bay Company became available during an auction, a Winnipeg business owner had to have it.
Sask. doctor facing professional charges in circumcision case
A Saskatoon doctor has been accused of unprofessional conduct following a high-cost adult circumcision that included a request for the patient to text unsecured post-op pictures of his genitals.
Regina home recognized internationally for architectural design
Jane Arthur and her husband David began a unique construction project in 2014. Now, a decade later, their home in Regina's Cathedral neighbourhood has won a title in the Urban House and Villa category at the World Architecture Festival.