Minister hints at soaring new cost for Civic hospital replacement - CBC
Ontario's minister of infrastructure says the province is now investing nearly $10 billion in The Ottawa Hospital's new Civic campus, raising further questions about the delayed project's total cost — and what the community will be asked to contribute.
Minister David Piccini provided the provincial investment figure Wednesday afternoon during a session of the Ontario Legislature's standing committee on heritage, infrastructure and cultural policy.
He was being grilled by Stephen Blais, the Liberal MPP for Orléans who is the party's infrastructure critic. Blais asked Piccini to confirm what the cost of the hospital project will be. The minister did not answer.
When pressed again, Piccini replied, "The investments that we're making that are putting members to work right now on an investment of just shy of $10 billion towards the hospital," before he was interrupted.
The two then sparred over whether the project is "on time."
That the province is pledging money toward replacing the Civic campus is not new. Ontario previously committed to covering $2.1 billion of the cost, provided the Ottawa community contribute $700 million.
City council in 2022 was asked to supply $150 million of that $700 million, while a fundraising campaign would cover most of the rest. The Ottawa Hospital Foundation told CBC News Thursday that it has so far raised $404 million.
But for Blais, Piccini's response on Wednesday — and what it suggested about the latest total estimated budget for the project — sparked concern about Ottawa's capacity to cover its full share.
"We'll go from $700 million to let's call it roughly $2.25 billion to $2.5 billion," Blais said during the committee meeting. "That is a significant increase. Ottawa is not the same market as Toronto. We don't have the same corporate business community that the City of Toronto has.
"That will require an enormous effort."
Blais then asked the minister how he could account for "a five-X increase in costs." A previous estimate put the cost of the new hospital at $2.8 billion.
"Increase in costs," Piccini replied to Blais Wednesday, referring to supply chains. "Also, municipally imposed fees, which increases the relative share."
In an emailed statement sent in response to a request for comment about the financial figure cited by Piccini, Ontario's Ministry of Health said the new campus is a complex project and that it continues to work with The Ottawa Hospital and Infrastructure Ontario "to ensure it is competitively priced and aligned with long-term health service needs."
The ministry did not corroborate the figure publicly stated by Piccini, but pointed to $30 million in planning money the province has provided for the project — "investments the Liberals and NDP have voted against."
Construction on the hospital proper was at one point supposed to start in 2024.
It was once hoped the hospital would open in 2028, but earlier this year an adviser on the project told city councillors it has liked been delayed well into the 2030s.
A spokesperson for The Ottawa Hospital told CBC News via email Thursday that the design of the new campus is complete and construction timelines and project costs are being finalized.
The lower levels of the parking garage are open to the public and are being used for offsite parking by staff at the current, ageing Civic campus. Site preparations continue on the elevated escarpment area where the main hospital building will be located. This includes watermain work and underground piping for sanitary and stormwater services.
"In the coming months, construction contracts will be issued and the public will see much more construction activity on the site," the spokesperson added.
The City of Ottawa said in its own email Thursday that city staff will report back to councillors about options to fund the city's portion of "the local share contribution," though when that report will hit councillors' desks is "not yet confirmed."
At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said that if the cost has gone up, that's a question for the ministry.
He added: "The City of Ottawa is not going to cover billions and billions of dollars of additional cost for the hospital."
