Soaring Civic hospital campus price reflects new project scope, health ministry says

Construction crews were continuing work on the new Civic campus hospital near Carling Avenue in Ottawa on Monday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

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The Ministry of Health says the scope of The Ottawa Hospital’s new Civic campus has evolved since the project first began, and a nearly 400 per cent increase in price reflects “factors” not captured in the original plan.

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Last week, Ontario’s Infrastructure Minister David Piccini revealed the province’s contribution to the new Civic campus had surged to nearly $10 billion, up from its original share of $2.1 billion.

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That revelation raised questions about what the actual cost of the project would eventually be, a figure that has yet to be released. Originally, in 2021, it was projected to be a total of $2.8 billion: $2.1 billion from the province and a $700-million local share.

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Piccini attributed the ballooning costs to supply chain issues, development-charge fees, and “a number of the municipally imposed fees.” On Tuesday, the health ministry said its contribution to the new hospital had increased so much because the “initial cost estimate for this project was based on a years-old submission.”

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“The project scope has since evolved, with additional work and requirements identified through the planning process,” said Lily Barnes, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.

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“The ministry has worked closely with the hospital to refine the scope and costs, accounting for factors that may not have been captured in the original submission, including the age and condition of existing infrastructure and the community’s evolving health-care needs over the decades ahead.”

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By February 2024, Infrastructure Ontario and The Ottawa Hospital signed a development-phase agreement with the builders, which kickstarted construction of a parking garage at the property near Dow’s Lake. Construction of the hospital itself has not begun — the design is complete, the hospital says, and construction timelines and project costs are still being finalized.

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Orléans Liberal MPP Stephen Blais suggested the fact there was got one bid has played a role in the increased costs.

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“During that process, the hospital and Infrastructure Ontario are literally only discussing price with one bidder. The price isn’t settled on. They’re still negotiating. There is no competitive friction and that’s why I think we’ve seen prices go up by five times and perhaps even larger than that,” Blais said this week.

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It is the biggest health-infrastructure project in Ottawa’s history, and, when complete, it will be one of Canada’s largest and most modern teaching hospitals. The updated total cost of the project has not been confirmed, nor has there been an answer on whether the local share will also increase.