For immediate release
SURREY, British Columbia, May 7, 2010 – The Honourable Vic Toews, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and the Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Regional Minister for British Columbia, joined by other federal, provincial and municipal representatives, led a groundbreaking ceremony today to mark the start of construction of the new RCMP E Division Headquarters at the Green Timbers site in Surrey.
“Our hard working police personnel deserve to have the tools they need to do their job,” said Minister Toews. “This new facility will enhance the RCMP’s ability to provide integrated and intelligence-based policing, allowing them to be even more effective in enforcing the law, preventing crime and protecting Canadians.”
“This project will create an estimated 900 new jobs in construction,” added Minister Day. “It is another example of our government taking action to providing Canadians with modern infrastructure that is functional, affordable and well managed so citizens and communities get the services they need and expect.”
The project is a public-private partnership (P3) between the Government of Canada and Green Timbers Accommodation Partners. The new 76,162 square-metre facility will meet current safety and security standards and provide accommodations for over 2,700 RCMP E Division Headquarters personnel. Currently, personnel are housed inefficiently in an aging and overcrowded facility at the Fairmont site in the City of Vancouver and 25 other locations throughout Metro Vancouver.
As part of the Project Agreement, Green Timbers Accommodation Partners has agreed to a fixed price of $966 million to design, build, finance and maintain the facility for a term ending 25 years after construction. Green Timbers Accommodation Partners has also agreed to a time schedule that will see the construction of the facility completed by December 2012. This project will meet the LEED® Canada Gold certification—demonstrating the Government of Canada’s ongoing commitment to protecting our environment.
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For further information, please contact:
Chris Hilton
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
613-697-7324
Email: Chris.Hilton@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca
Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315
PWGSC news releases are also available on our Internet site at http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/medias-media/index-eng.html.
Project Overview
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are working together to relocate and consolidate existing RCMP headquarter units throughout Metro Vancouver to a new site in the City of Surrey. This Major Crown Project is a public-private partnership (P3) and represents PWGSC’s largest federal accommodations project in British Columbia to date. The Project will strengthen the Canadian economy by creating an estimated 900 construction related jobs.
The core of RCMP E Division Headquarters is currently located at the Fairmont site (37th Ave. and Heather St.) in the City of Vancouver. These accommodations were non-purpose built, are significantly overcrowded, poorly located operationally and are reaching the end of their useful life. This situation has been compounded by rapid and continued growth in E Division Headquarters’ functions, which has required the acquisition of additional office and special purpose space in various locations throughout the Metro Vancouver area.
The Green Timbers site, located at 14200 Green Timbers Way in Surrey, will provide a central, integrated, purpose-built headquarters facility for E Division. The 14.8 hectare site was acquired by PWGSC in 2005 from the Province of British Columbia specifically for this purpose. The new facility will:
- enable better access to highways and major roadways;
- improve operational efficiencies;
- enhance integrated and intelligence-based policing;
- improve responses to natural disasters;
- meet current safety and security standards;
- provide office and purpose built accommodation for over 2,700 personnel; and
- accommodate future growth.
Facility
- Approximately 76,162 square-metres
- Multi-building complex including a seven-storey office building
- LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Canada Gold certification
Procurement Overview
The Government of Canada issued a Request for Proposals on March 31, 2009 to three short-listed proponents to design, build, finance and maintain the facility for a term ending 25 years after construction. The three proponent teams submitted technical submissions on September 30, 2009 and financial submissions on November 13, 2009 that were evaluated based on the criteria and requirements set out in the Request for Proposals.
After an extensive and comprehensive evaluation process, Green Timbers Accommodation Partners’ proposal was selected the winner of the competition having most closely met the requirements and needs of the RCMP E Division Headquarters. To ensure fairness and impartiality the entire procurement process was overseen by an independent Fairness Monitor who reported that the process the Government of Canada followed was “exemplary”.
A Project Agreement between the Government of Canada and Green Timbers Accommodation Partners was signed on April 22, 2010 for a fixed price of $966 million. Included in this amount is $263 million for design and construction, a $120 million contribution from Canada and $583 million for project financing, building maintenance, and lifecycle repair and renewal over the 28-year term. Canada will make monthly payments to Green Timbers Accommodation Partners, upon service commencement, over the 25-year maintenance term. The Government of Canada will retain ownership of the Green Timbers site and facility at all times.
Key Dates
Green Timbers Accommodation Partners
The Green Timbers Accommodation Partners consortium sponsors consist of HSBC Infrastructure, Bouygues Bâtiment International and ETDE Facility Management Canada.
Other team members include: Kasian Architecture who is leading the design of the facility with construction being undertaken by Bouygues Building Canada and Bird Construction. ETDE Facility Management Canada will provide all facilities management services, including maintenance, cleaning, catering and energy consumption management for the 25-year period following construction.
Use of P3 Approach
After an extensive review process, the Government of Canada determined that in this circumstance, a P3 design, build, finance and maintain procurement option would provide citizens with best value for money, while meeting the RCMP’s operational needs. The approach provides Canada with the cost certainty it requires and will ensure that the facility is delivered on time and on budget. This option:
- leverages private sector capacity and innovation;
- provides incentives for the private partner to find efficiencies in facility design and construction; and
- allocates risk to the partner best positioned to manage it so that costs can be minimized.
While still maintaining a fair, open and competitive process, this procurement approach also allowed for ongoing dialogue and collaboration with the short-listed proponents to ensure the proposals they developed were responsive to the needs of Canada.
The P3 approach allowed for the establishment of a fixed budget and time schedule. Any increase in material costs or delays in construction will be the responsibility of Green Timbers Accommodation Partners. A performance-based contract will ensure the facility is maintained and service standards met throughout the life of the Agreement.
For Canada this approach enables effective financial management with predictable and steady funding, since annual payments are pre-determined for the 25-year operating period, without sporadic demands for funding to cover life cycle maintenance and recapitalization costs.
