Canada has announced plans to vastly increase the size and capabilities of the Canadian Armed Forces. This investment in national security means not only more soldiers, sailors, air and support personnel and equipment, but also new and improved facilities to support operations, training and maintenance needs. 

“These are important, nation-building projects,” says David Hudock, PCL’s national director of defence and federal government relations and a 32-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Navy. “Canada must strengthen our defence to better protect our sovereignty, our interests and our allies.”

But many of these projects will also be complex, requiring exceptional levels of planning and cooperation. Like other mission-critical facilities such as airports, hospitals and data centres, these projects require resilient, mission-focused infrastructure capable of withstanding threats while enabling secure, uninterrupted operations.

Built in strategic and remote locations, these projects involve complex logistics and interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together military planners, architects, engineers and security experts. Ultimately, success lies in delivering robust, secure and flexible environments that meet operational demands while safeguarding critical personnel and technologies.

Having delivered dozens of military and high-security facilities across Canada over the last 25 years — including, for example, the Communications Security Establishment Long-term Accommodation Project — PCL is ready to build the military facilities Canada needs.

The challenge, Hudock says, will be to complete a large volume of construction — larger than the armed forces have undertaken in generations — and to complete it quickly, securely, and well. “PCL is able to help determine and implement solutions,” he says. “We’re here to provide ‘sleep insurance’ to the military.”

PCL was founded in Saskatchewan in 1906 with an entrepreneurial spirit that continues to drive the company. The company has delivered projects for Canada’s defence and security departments and agencies since the end of the First World War. PCL began work on CFB Cold Lake in 1952, constructing a radar station, a cantilevered hangar and a concrete runway. Through the 1960s, the company built military barracks, schools and over 500 houses in the Cold Lake community. More recently, PCL has delivered a diverse portfolio of projects in support of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Department of National Defence, and the Government of Canada. A few examples are The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the 4th Engineer Support Regiment’s facility at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick and The Royal Canadian Dragoons Regimental facility at CFB Petawawa. This long, successful partnership continues today, with PCL under contract to design and build more than 10 projects in support of the Canadian Armed Forces, including the Land Based Test Facility in Halifax (in support of Canada’s River Class Destroyer program), the Ground Based Air Defence facilities at Gagetown, the Strategic Tanker new hangar and associated facilities at Trenton, and the new headquarters for the 1^st Canadian Rangers Patrol Group in Yellowknife.

PCL is defined by a proven track record for on-time and on‑budget construction, a depth of resources and strong industry and trade relations. Over the years, PCL has cultivated a reputation not only for excellence, but for a proven ability to deliver large-scale, complex, top-security, mission-critical projects. That success is gained by engaging a broad matrix of stakeholders through a highly effective approach to partnering and integrated construction services.

PCL’s advanced preconstruction approach engages unique in-house expert services team early in design to focus on design optimization, constructability assessments and driving maximum value to clients. 

For decades, PCL has committed to establishing mutually beneficial partnerships with Indigenous communities, businesses and stakeholders. These partnerships help PCL create inclusive and diverse workplaces in its offices and at jobsites.

PCL has the largest national presence of any general contractor in Canada, working in the buildings, civil and industrial sectors, all of which will be required in this national undertaking. The company has strong long-term relationships with the design community and with the trades, ensuring competitive pricing, ready availability and the big-room collaboration required to successfully meet the military’s needs, including enhanced security requirements.

PCL also has broad geographic reach, having worked from coast to coast to coast delivering projects for the military and many other federal government departments.

This includes scores of projects in the always-challenging north, far from population centres and where supply chains are challenged. “It brings an added level of difficulty, but we have extensive experience in the North,” says Hudock. “This includes work in Iqaluit, Inuvik, Eureka and beyond.”

Additionally, PCL has extensive experience with both the modified design build method of project delivery, which is used on many military projects, and with the Integrated Project Delivery method, which was recently used to successfully deliver the Royal Canadian Dragoons project.

The National Defence projects that are procured through Defence Construction Canada are among the most efficiently and effectively procured projects within the public infrastructure realm. PCL is highly experienced with the best practices used by the Canadian Armed Forces and National Defence.

While speed to market and providing value to the client are important, so is following the government’s rigorous procurement rules, which include criteria not typical with private projects. These include industrial security requirements, Indigenous and local workforce participation policies, enhanced sustainability requirements and other government-mandated processes.

PCL is 100% employee owned. Across all levels of the organization, PCL employees are experienced, passionate solution providers. Every day, employees put a culture of ownership to work, inspired to ensure a superior project delivery experience that earns client trust and builds long-term relationships. United by a shared purpose of “Building a Better Future, Together,” PCL brings collaborative methods, innovation, lean methods, advanced technology and proactive risk mitigation strategies to manage all scales of complexity, delivering consistent quality on or ahead of schedule, with enhanced value for our clients.

Diverse and broad employee ownership not only reflects employee confidence in our leadership but ensures that — as industry leaders — PCL models the highest standards of corporate social responsibility with an uncompromising commitment to safety, diversity, inclusion, sustainability and innovation.

Those standards are put to work for clients on every project.