Published Jun 11, 2025 • 5 minute readA skateboarder goes down the emergency entrance of the Halifax Infirmary, backdropped by the construction cranes brought in for the hospital expansion project on Wednesday June 11, 2025. TIM KROCHAK PHOTO Photo by Tim Krochak /The Chronicle HeraldThe $7.4-billion Halifax Infirmary expansion is going to come in on budget, on time and will be constructed primarily by Nova Scotia workers, a committee was told Wednesday.“The contract is signed, this is a firm, fixed price,” David Benoit, president and CEO of Build Nova Scotia, the provincial Crown corporation focused on developing strategic economic infrastructure for the province, told the standing legislative committee on public accounts.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle content“We are on a fixed-price, fixed-schedule contract so we know how much it’s going to cost Nova Scotians and we know when it’s going to be turned over for occupancy,” said John Volcko, vice-president of corporate development with PCL Construction, the company that has already begun preliminary work to build a 14-floor tower at the site.“Two weeks ago, the first two cranes arrived with two more arriving later this summer,” Benoit said. “In May, crews started pouring the foundation footings and by December the concrete structure will rise to the main floor, marking a significant milestone.”The QEII new generation project was originally announced in 2016 with an estimated cost of $2 billion to expand the Halifax Infirmary and the Dartmouth General, to add new services at the Cobequid Community Health Centre and to create two transition-to-community centres.Article contentIt morphed into the new Infirmary expansion plan that was announced as a done deal between the province and the joint partnership of PCL and Plenary Americas on Feb. 19. The overall cost of the project includes $4.5 billion over the course of construction and $2.9 billion for operational and maintenance funding over a 30-year period extending to 2061.Dana MacKenzie, deputy minister of the Health Department, called the project a game-changer for Nova Scotia.“For patients, it will provide more access to care, more services and a larger emergency department,” MacKenzie said. “The expanded (Halifax Infirmary) will include a 14-storey tower, 216 beds, 16 operating rooms, a 48-bed intensive care unit and an emergency department that is nearly twice the size of the current one.”Article contentStaff will be working in a modern, state-of-the-art facility, MacKenzie said, and some staff and services from the aging VG site will move into the new facility. MacKenzie said the new building, when operational in 2031, will be a recruitment magnet for doctors, nurses and other health-care staff.“We know health-care staff want to work in collaborative, contemporary, high-tech facilities,” she said.MacKenzie said the six-year construction phase will provide jobs for hundreds of trades and construction workers.“Today, the site is bustling with workers pouring concrete, breaking and removing rock, and looking up as cranes swing into action as the main construction phase gets underway,” she said. Health Minister Michelle Thompson and Dr. Christine Short, senior medical director with the QEII health-care redevelopment, take part in a Halifax Infirmary expansion announcement in downtown Halifax in February. Photo by Francis Campbell /The Chronicle HeraldKaren Oldfield, interim president of Nova Scotia Health, said the entire QEII Health Sciences Centre saw more than a million patient visits for the 2024-25 fiscal year, including more than 1,000 inpatients on any given day along with roughly 2,800 onsite clinic visits and more than 200 emergency department visits.Article content“Many of the facilities supporting this care are ready for renewal,” Oldfield said. “This project represents a major step forward. The new acute care tower will expand inpatient and surgical care, add more efficient diagnostic and treatment facilities, and house a larger emergency department built for today’s and tomorrow’s volumes.”Benoit pointed people to the buildns.ca website to access information about the building and its construction and said he’s confident that the province is getting good value for its money on the expansion project.Asked by Lisa Lachance, the NDP representative for Halifax Citadel-Sable Island, about the effects of continually increasing labour and material costs and the Trump tariffs on the $4.5-billion construction bill, Benoit said there are always contingencies that could arise.“Tariffs, nobody can predict what the impact will be there,” he said. “That will necessitate discussion but that doesn’t mean that the price will go up. That just may mean we look for different sources or find other ways to do it.”Article contentVolcko said his company will do a procurement combination during construction, some of it competitively tendered and some based on negotiations with trusted trade partners that can guarantee cost certainty and date certainty.He said there are specific workforce goals.“Our overall workforce is going to be around 850 to 1,000 workers at peak,” he said. “We suspect about two-thirds will be local or local to Nova Scotia. There are some key trades that are coming from out of province. Our form-work trade is one of those where there is not sufficient skilled labour (in Nova Scotia) for that scope to do the work.“We are very aware of the benefit of the project to Nova Scotians and want to do the best for Nova Scotia. An example is that one of our trade partners from Ontario has subcontracted his scope of work to a consortium of three local firms. That helps to get our local content up and it also helps to utilize the workforce from several different resource pools.”Article contentThe company’s goal is to have 10 per cent of the workforce come from under-represented groups.“In addition to that we have a very aggressive program with respect to apprenticeships. Those apprenticeships are likely new graduates, new out of school, new out of trade school, we want those workers to be trained at the highest level possible and then remain in Nova Scotia so there is a legacy of a skilled workforce here.”Iain Rankin, the Liberal MLA for Timberlea-Prospect, said PCL is involved in several large contracts across Nova Scotia and neighbouring provinces and asked Volcko about his confidence in labour availability for the project.“As we were going through the bid phase, one of our major, major risks was labour availability and skilled labour,” Volcko said. “That’s why our strategy is a combination of bringing people from out of province for periods of that particular scope. We have a focus on using local and creating the skilled workforce long term.”Volcko said that, as a former Nova Scotia Community College board member, he knows how the college operates.“I know that they are a very nimble and responsive organization,” he said. “When we get to work with them and say we need X number of carpenters in 2027-28, they would be nimble enough to work with us to try and hit some of those objectives in a variety of scopes that they provide training in across the province.”Article content
Halifax Infirmary expansion finally on time, on budget, committee told
