With $81.8 billion in new federal defence funding committed over five years in Budget 2025 and an estimated $290 billion in defence-related infrastructure spending projected by 2035, demand for military infrastructure is set to accelerate across Canada.

Few people understand the relationship between defence infrastructure and operational capability better than Steven Waddell. After decades of distinguished military service, he rose to serve both as Deputy Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) — responsible for the readiness and resilience of more than 12,000 sailors — and as the Vice Commander of the U.S. Navy’s Second Fleet, where he led operations to ensure Euro-Atlantic maritime security alongside allied nations.

He says both roles sharpened the same conviction: defence capability is only as strong as the infrastructure and facilities that support it.

"I was formerly a base commander, so I know first-hand the condition of much of Canada's defence infrastructure," Waddell says. "Over my 36 years of service, when budgets were lower and the phrase 'doing more with less' was used more often than it should be, maintenance and repair of infrastructure was often the first to suffer."

Now that Canada has committed to historic levels of investment to reverse that trend, Waddell has joined PCL — Canada's largest general contractor — as Deputy National Director, Defence and Federal Government Relations to help translate national ambition into on-the-ground delivery and future-ready security.

So after a lifelong career in the military, why choose PCL? The choice, he explains, was both strategic and personal.

"I wanted to continue to contribute to the needs of defence — and I am passionate about working to align PCL's credibility as a sophisticated builder with important defence projects that benefit the Canadian Armed Forces," he says. But beyond capability, it was culture that confirmed his decision.

"I knew that PCL was a highly respected, employee-owned company, and when I arrived, my impressions were confirmed. I experienced the shared culture of wanting to deliver rigor and excellence — a culture not dissimilar to the very environment I had lived within for many years."

That alignment is reflected in PCL’s employee-ownership model, built on shared challenges and shared success. It reinforces accountability across teams. "Shared challenges build strong teams," says Waddell. "The ‘we’re all in this together’ culture stems from a community of people that share in the company vision and are results and outcomes oriented."

PCL is a Canadian-headquartered builder that operates in every province, giving it the scale and technical depth to deliver sovereign infrastructure anywhere in Canada — by Canadians. This reduces reliance on foreign contractors and supports national security interests.

PCL brings integrated expertise across buildings, civil and industrial sectors, along with the scale to deliver anywhere in Canada — including remote and Arctic locations. “As not only the largest builder in Canada, but also a legacy builder with roots dating back 120 years, I think we have a responsibility to help build this infrastructure,” says Waddell.

PCL has a proven track record of delivering secure facilities for the Department of National Defence, including the Royal Canadian Dragoons facilities, the 4^th Engineer Support Regiment facility and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) Long Term Accommodation Project. The latest defence projects, underway and awarded, include the Land-Based Test Facility in Halifax and the National Defence Secure Campus in Ottawa.

Waddell is candid about the scale of the challenge ahead and the need for disciplined, sequenced planning.

"The most significant challenge Canada faces is matching pace of delivery to ambition," he says. But the political will is real, as is the public support. With defence spending to increase from 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035, equaling an investment of $150 billion annually, Canada is signaling a commitment to defence at a level not seen since the 1960s. But ambition and capacity are not the same thing.

"Unfortunately, our national capacity to deliver these massive defence and nation-building projects simultaneously has not had the opportunity to grow, mature and align with intent," he says. "Tough decisions on sequencing the work will be needed to align capacity with demand across the country." And this is one area where PCL excels.

PCL's national presence and integrated delivery capabilities are well suited to complex, high-volume, geographically distributed projects. PCL approaches defence work as a long-term partnership, supporting the full lifecycle of facilities — from preconstruction planning, risk mitigation and design optimization through recapitalization and expansion. 

Waddell’s time with the U.S. Second Fleet, representing Canada alongside American and allied naval forces to assure Euro-Atlantic security, demonstrated what enduring military partnerships look like beneath the friction of political and trade relations. "Despite the ebbs and flows, there remains a necessary stability in military-to-military relations, especially as it relates to continental defence," says Waddell.

His years as Deputy Commander of Canada's navy brought a different but equally defining responsibility. "Working every day to generate a ready and resilient navy — providing opportunity for over 12,000 sailors and delivering capabilities that allowed them to achieve whatever the nation asked — was a distinct highlight in my military career," he says.

That experience now shapes how PCL engages with defence clients, recognizing that security clearances, controlled sites, proximate and concurrent operations, phased handovers and mission-critical uptime are not administrative complications — they are the job. PCL structures its teams and processes accordingly, led by people who have worked in those environments and what it takes to deliver within them.