Centre Block renovation progressing on schedule within $4.5-$5.0 billion budget despite inflation and site-related challenges

Ontario Construction News staff writer

The massive renovation of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block is on schedule to be completed by 2031 within its original $4.5 to $5 billion budget, despite inflationary cost pressures and engineering challenges within the complex foundation work.

Senior project director Siavash Mohajer says design work is proceeding on schedule as the PCL/Ellis-Don consortium has completed excavating the new Visitors Centre underneath its front lawn, incorporating the Peace Tower foundation within its internal layout.

He said many cost increases are being covered by contingencies built within the original project budget. As well, as the contractors and structural engineers work on site, they are finding efficiencies and internal scheduling adjustments that are giving them confidence they will be able to stay on schedule and within the original cost range.

“So far, when we put together all these pressures and what we can see in the future, we’re still tracking within that $4.5 to $5 billion,” he said.

Public Services and Procurement Canada representatives, along with parliamentary officials and representatives of specialized subtrades and suppliers helped co-ordinate and demonstrate progress on the site during a media tour last Thursday. This is the third media site tour since significant on-site work started in 2020.

Journalists donned construction safety gear and visited some of Parliament’s key locations including the House of Commons and Senate chambers as we toured through some of the about 50 heritage-significant rooms within the building. I could see significant progress since my last visit in June, 2023 – and also appreciated the amount of work that yet needs to be done.

For example, within the Senate Chamber, in 2023, we needed to climb a set of scaffolds to see the early work on the Senate’s ceiling. That is done, the scaffolding has been removed, and now the room is almost empty. Much historical artifact work is being done off-site.

The project will adapt the structure form 1920 to 2024 building code standards. This means expensive seismic improvements, removal of thousands of tonnes of asbestos, and upgraded mechanical and electrical services.

The multi-level underground visitors’ centre will allow a doubling of the number of tourists/visitors to the site, while enhancing security, say parliamentary officials. The first of three tower cranes will soon be installed to begin build-up construction there.

Overall, about 500 workers, employed by several subcontractors, are on the job (on and off site).

Within the overall structure, internal courtyards will be enclosed with glass and an elevator/staircase system to allow visitors’ access the public galleries, which will however, accommodate fewer people because of the need to build in additional accessibility capacities, said Darrel de Grandmont, the Centre Block Rehabilitation Program’s director.

A different problem needs to be resolved within the House of Commons, as the number of parliamentarians increases with Canada’s growing population. Designers are working on options for new seating arrangements – perhaps evolving to foldable theatre-style chairs or maybe benches similar to the British House of Commons.

Office spaces and committee/meeting rooms throughout Centre Block are being reconfigured – all with the intent of retaining the original heritage design, with hidden upgrades reflecting current technologies.

Offsite specialist contractors including stone sculptors have been taking various elements within the building and repairing/rebuilding them to recreate the original intended design. Within various rooms, various updates and coverings have been cleared away, revealing the original earlier-era wall coverings; these will be refurbished and repaired or to enhance the overall environment. Some elements will be rebuilt completely, as they too warn out to repair. Additional stone carvings will also be installed in places that were blank, but had been intended for future installations.

When the final landscaping is completed by 2032, visitors will see the traditional Parliament with improvements (including the new Visitors Centre) mostly out of public view.

However, the overall result will be a building that will accommodate twice the number of annual visitors – increasing capacity to 700,000 per year – while improving function and efficiency for parliamentarians and staff, Mohajer said.

“And when I say modern, I don’t just mean for today but I mean for today and the next 100 years.”