Procedure and House Affairs

The Procedure and House Affairs committee met to study the long-term vision and plan (LTVP) for the parliamentary precinct and the Centre Block rehabilitation. Appearing were Tom Kmiec, Chair of the House of Commons Working Group on the LTVP and the Centre Block Rehabilitation; Benoit Dicaire, Chief Information Officer of the House of Commons; and Jennifer Garrett, Assistant Deputy Minister, Parliamentary Precinct, at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

Tom Kmiec outlined the working group’s role since 2020 in developing recommendations for the Board of Internal Economy (BOIE) on the LTVP and Centre Block. He noted that BOIE has approved decisions on seating, lobbies, office units, accessibility, and a dedicated Indigenous cultural and ceremonial space, and has endorsed the redevelopment of Block 2, which will provide parliamentarian office units while preserving heritage buildings. He emphasized that the working group ensures decisions respect heritage and meet long-term member needs.

Benoit Dicaire described the House administration’s role in incorporating operational, security, technology, and accessibility requirements into the project. He highlighted challenges such as balancing heritage with functionality, noting that space constraints have forced the relocation of interpretation booths and the television control room out of Centre Block. He stressed that member offices are prioritized in the building, and that the administration provides evidence-based information to support working group and BOIE decisions.

Jennifer Garrett reported that PSPC has completed an update of the LTVP, last revised in 2006, and that $5.9 billion has been invested to date, creating over 89,000 jobs. She confirmed the Centre Block project is on track for substantial completion in 2031 and opening in 2032, with 17% of structural work for the Parliament Welcome Centre and 22% of Centre Block’s structural rebuild complete. She noted that 65% of steel sourced to date is Canadian, with a goal of reaching near 100% Canadian steel, and that a $6-million premium is expected for using Canadian manufacturing innovations. She also stated that the building will pursue LEED gold and carbon neutrality, and that base isolation will protect heritage spaces from seismic events. In response to a question, she said the upper floors will look exactly as they did before closure, with all stone tagged and returned to its original place. She added that the project is working with Accessibility Standards Canada and piloting technologies like invisible lifts to go beyond code. On costs, she said the baseline budget is $4.5 billion to $5 billion, with $1.4 billion spent, and that cost pressures from excavation have been mitigated by reducing the amount of excavation and relocating some spaces, such as the Charles Lynch room, to the welcome centre. She disagreed with a member’s skepticism about the 89,000-jobs figure, explaining it is calculated using a Department of Finance standard of 15,000 person-years per billion dollars, spanning decades of precinct work.

In response to questions, Dicaire noted that the governance of the project is complex because multiple institutions—the House, Senate, Library of Parliament, and Parliamentary Protective Service—must coordinate requirements with PSPC, which holds project authority. He added that no decision has been made on the future use of the temporary West Block chamber. Garrett confirmed that a pre-contact knife, or mòkomàn, found during archaeological work, is the subject of a request from the Algonquin to display it in the welcome centre. She also said that outreach to suppliers in provinces like Saskatchewan is ongoing, and that all procurements are public.