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Infrastructure and Environment

Infrastructure on Bases and Wings

  • The defence real property portfolio is a core enabler and strategic asset for the Canadian Armed Forces.
  • It is also an important factor in our recruitment and retention efforts because our infrastructure is where our people live, work, train, operate, and where our equipment and weapons are stored.
  • We know that significant investments are needed to provide our members with the modern infrastructure they need.
  • As outlined in Our North, Strong and Free, National Defence has committed to spending $10.2 billion over 20 years on Defence infrastructure from coast to coast to coast.
  • These investments will better support operational effectiveness and military readiness while improving resilience to the effects of climate change and reducing Defence's carbon footprint.
  • In addition, as we announced in 2022, we are investing $38.6 billion over 20 years to modernize Canada's contribution to NORAD, with key investments in our Northern regions to strengthen surveillance and the ability to sustain operations.
  • NORAD modernization will include upgrading infrastructure at multiple forward operating locations, and a deployed operating base in Canada's North, through the NORAD Northern Basing Infrastructure project.
  • Our North, Strong and Free also includes an investment of $218 million in Northern Operational Support Hubs to better exercise Canadian sovereignty by establishing a greater year-round presence across the Arctic and the North.
  • Further, National Defence has developed a Defence Real Property Portfolio Strategy, setting out a long-term vision to rationalize and modernize our real property portfolio.
  • This Strategy will enable the Defence Team to address portfolio affordability and sustainability challenges, enhance military capabilities, and better support operations.
  • Additionally, the strategy supports the advancement of other key Government of Canada priorities, including resiliency against climate change, and advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

If pressed on the maintenance and upgrades of Defence infrastructure:

  • National Defence will continue to maintain and upgrade military infrastructure across Canada, including buildings, roads, military housing, jetties and more.
  • Improving all assets that are not in suitable condition may not be cost-effective. Consequently, some assets may need to be demolished and rebuilt rather than repaired.
  • Other assets may need to be consolidated so that National Defence can more efficiently manage and maintain its infrastructure portfolio.

If pressed on contaminated sites:

  • National Defence acknowledges its responsibility and accountability for the impact that defence activities have on the environment, communities, and people.
  • Through the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, we are investing resources to clean up historical contamination and minimize future environmental impact from military activities.
  • To date, National Defence has closed 1,221 sites that were reported in the Federal Contaminated Sites inventory.
  • Through programs such as these, National Defence is committed to ensuring our members and activities respect the environment and promote environmental stewardship.

If pressed on delays for the Nanisivik Naval Facility:

  • An on-site service support contract is required to bring fuel to the site and to operate the facility, and these requirements are currently being assessed.
  • The work plan for 2024 will address remaining deficiencies at the facility, which involves minor work that was not addressed during construction and commissioning, completed in 2023. The completion of this remaining work is anticipated in 2025.
  • Infrastructure work in the Arctic poses many challenges, including complex logistical challenges.
  • Meanwhile, a Facility Maintenance Contractor will maintain the Nanisivik Naval Facility in its current state while the Royal Canadian Navy determines its fueling and operation requirements, given the known performance of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships.

If pressed on the Inuvik Airport Runway Extension Project:

  • As part of our efforts to enhance capabilities in the North, National Defence has committed $230 million for a runway extension at the Inuvik Airport.
  • The project is targeting completion in Fiscal Year 2027-28.

Key Facts

The Defence Real Property Portfolio:

  • 2.2 million hectares of land (almost four times the landmass of Prince Edward Island)
  • 11,740 residential housing units
  • 5,500 kilometres of roads (roughly the distance between Calgary and Halifax)
  • 21,000 buildings
  • 25% of assets > 50 years old
  • Built assets valued at $28.4 billion
  • 19,788 works
  • Approx.10 million m2 of operational floor space (519,000 m2 under PSPC)
  • Approx. $2 billion annual operational budget

Deferred Maintenance for non-residential operational assets:

  • The Defence portfolio has approximately $8.2B in deferred maintenance, including several assets that are not considered to be in suitable condition (i.e. the property has poor financial performance and/or does not align with the strategic objectives of National Defence).

The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP):

  • Federal contaminated sites are sites located on land owned or leased by the federal government, or on land where the federal government has accepted responsibility for the contamination.
  • National Defence has 1,971 sites reported in the Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory, 1,221 of which require no further action and are closed.
  • 107 of the remaining sites are considered high priority for additional remediation or risk management.
  • In Main Estimates 2024-2025, National Defence received $66.6 million in incremental funding for the National Defence component of FCSAP, to reduce legacy contamination by remediating sites.
  • In 2024/2025, focus is on six ongoing high priority remediation projects:
    • Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project (British Columbia);
    • The Firefighting Training Area, 3 Wing Bagotville (Quebec);
    • Stony Point (Former Camp Ipperwash) (Ontario);
    • 22 Wing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Monitoring (Ontario);
    • New Aerospace and Telecommunications Engineering Support Squadron (ATESS) Refinishing Shop (Ontario); and
    • Trichloroethylene (TCE) Contamination, CFB Valcartier (Quebec).

Details

  • Much of the existing Real Portfolio (RP) was not designed for today's operational needs. In addition, a significant proportion of the assets are at the end of their life cycle and are forecasted to be in "critical" condition by 2030.
  • The state of the portfolio is consistent with the overall Government of Canada's real property portfolio as the average age of assets is increasing, overall portfolio condition is deteriorating, deferred maintenance costs continue to grow, and the functionality and suitability of the portfolio is declining.
  • Ongoing efforts are underway to improve the condition of assets to mitigate the risk of incidents that would impact infrastructure and operational readiness in addition to posing health and safety risks.
  • Through portfolio modernization, National Defence is also increasing the energy efficiency of defence infrastructure, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and providing modern green facilities to support personnel.
  • The achievement of Defence Real Property Portfolio Strategy (DRPPS) strategic goals is contingent on effective monitoring, reporting, and performance assessment. Some of the strategy's key targets include:

Goal

Target

Timeline

1

70% of total infrastructure in fair or better condition.

2032

2

20% of square metres of the portfolio recapitalized relative to 2022 (per the latest applicable standards and building codes).

2032

3

20% of square metres of the NCR office portfolio reduced relative to 2022.

2032

4

100% of Defence Energy and Environment Strategy (DEES) real property commitments met/exceeded.

Ongoing (Annually
as of FY 2022/23)

5

≥5% of overall value of real property related contracts awarded to Indigenous Businesses.

Ongoing (Annually
as of FY 2022/23)
  • For FY 24/25, National Defence is on track to spend upwards of $351M in minor capital project investment into existing infrastructure. This investment includes major repairs and overhauls of existing infrastructure and the recapitalization of existing capabilities with project values under $10M. This investment is a decrease from the $509M spent in FY 23/24 but in line with the average of the previous two years, $373M in FY 22/23 and $332M in FY 21/22. Included are:
    • $16 million in Ranges and Training Area investments;
    • $15 million in Port facility investments;
    • $41 million in Aerodrome investments including the recapitalization of airfields and repairs to associated buildings; and,
    • $31 million for municipal works repairs and recapitalization, such as roads and utilities.

Examples of Major Recent Defence Infrastructure Projects

  • Design and construction of the $188M Combatant Training and Integration Centre (CTIC) at CFB Halifax. Once complete, this facility will house cutting-edge training systems and become a critical facility to train personnel for future River-class Destroyer operations.
  • Commencing Construction of a new $44M Neurobehavioral Blast Research Facility of approximately 1,400 m2. The project will enable DRDC Suffield to study the full range of prevention, treatment and long-term goal of improving blast protection and blast treatment for CAF members.
  • Construction of a new facilities and recapitalization of existing facilities at the JTF2 Dwyer Hill Training Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The $1.4B project will deliver the necessary infrastructure specifically designed to support JTF 2's high readiness requirements.
  • The ongoing construction of the A/B Jetty Recapitalization Project at CFB Esquimalt's Dockyard in BC. Work in FY 24-25 includes completion of construction of "B" Jetty and the commencing construction of "A" Jetty, starting with the demolition of the existing jetty. This project is expected to cost between $500M and $1B and will improve site access for utility service and roadway routing and replace the two pre-existing stationary tower cranes found on the old jetties.
  • Completion of new $319M Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) facility providing operational space, training facilities, vehicle maintenance areas, warehousing and medical facilities for CSOR at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in Ontario.

Initiatives to Enhance the Ability of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to Operate in the North

  • Enhancing Canada's surveillance of northern approaches through investments in domain awareness, space-based surveillance and communications capabilities, improvements to northern basing, and support capabilities that will extend the reach of the CAF as part of NORAD modernization.
  • As part of this plan, National Defence is working on upgrading CAF infrastructure at three Forward Operating Locations in Canada's North (Inuvik, Yellowknife, and Iqaluit), and at 5 Wing Goose Bay Deployed Operating Base, through the NORAD Northern Basing Infrastructure initiative.
  • Upgrades could include runway modifications, airfield improvement, hangars, ammunition compounds, warehousing, operations, and life support facilities. This will support a more robust NORAD and CAF presence when needed, with potential opportunities for community access and use of facilities, where feasible.
  • Engagements with Indigenous and local partners regarding NORAD and Northern Basing Infrastructure planning began in 2022 and sustained collaboration will continue as projects progress.
  • Separately, National Defence is enhancing its space-based global search and rescue (SAR) capabilities through its contributions to the Medium Earth Orbit SAR system. National Defence is building two SAR ground terminals in Canada and is providing SAR repeaters on a satellite system, greatly increasing the range in which emergency beacons can be detected.

Nanisivik Naval Facility

  • In 2007, the Government announced its plan to convert the deep-water port at Nanisivik to a logistics hub, which will operate as a docking and refueling facility for the Royal Canadian Navy and other government vessels and serve to enhance the Navy's presence in the North.
    • The construction of the Nanisivik Naval Facility in Nunavut is substantially completed. The primary role of the facility will be to refuel the Royal Canadian Navy's Arctic and Offshore Patrol ships during the navigable season, while also continuing to provide the Canadian Coast Guard with refueling support and storage capacity for re-supply missions.
  • The Auditor General's 2022 report on Arctic Waters Surveillance noted that the Nanisivik Naval Facility (NNF) would not be equipped with heated fuel tanks, limiting its period of operation to approximately 4 weeks per year.
    • As an Arctic facility, the operational year is usually from early August to as late as October, depending on ice-coverage and temperatures. There are a number of factors which contribute to the length of the facilities' operating season. As long as the waters are navigable and the facility is accessible, the site will be open to ships.
    • After consultations with the community of Arctic Bay, National Defence advised that there would not be ice breaking near the facility to ensure community access to frozen waters and protect wildlife.
    • The NNF requires fuel to be shipped in at the start of the season and removed at the end of the season. The fuel barge cannot typically access NNF until early August because of ice coverage. Depending on the temperatures in late September, fuel may start to thicken as the fuel tanks and lines are not heated, limiting the Navy's ability to use the fuel. At that point the fuel must be removed from the tanks.

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