Ottawa awards $768.6M contract for new federal science campus on Fallowfield Road

Public Services and Procurement Canada says the Government of Canada has awarded a $768.6 million construction services contract to PCL Construction Canada Inc. for the Regulatory and Security Science Main project, a federal science campus being built on the existing Canadian Food Inspection Agency laboratory site at 3851 Fallowfield Road near Greenbank Road. The award was announced on August 10 by the Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, on behalf of the Honourable Joel Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement.

The department says the contract marks a major milestone that moves the project into full construction, following earlier site preparation and enabling work. Six modern science facilities are planned for the site. Together they are to form the RSS Main campus and support scientists and researchers from the food inspection agency, the Canada Border Services Agency, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

In its quick facts, the department says construction began in 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2031, and that the campus will accommodate approximately 275 employees and support about 25 science programs. It says the current phase is valued at approximately $1 billion and represents roughly half of the total planned RSS Main scope, and that the project is expected to contribute about $900 million toward Canada’s NATO related security and resilience spending over the next 10 years. RSS Main falls under Laboratories Canada, which the department describes as a $3.8 billion initiative to modernize federal science infrastructure.

The department also says the project is being delivered using Laboratories Canada’s Repeatable Laboratory Design Framework and is targeting LEED and Fitwel certification, and that the government is working with the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation and other Indigenous partners to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into planning and design. The site sits at the northern edge of Barrhaven, so construction is scheduled to continue in the Fallowfield and Greenbank area through 2031.