RC125 JulyAug 2026 - Magazine - Page 11
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The power of early contractor involvement
The traditional “design-bid-build” procurement model
is increasingly viewed as a barrier to delivery e昀케ciency,
especially when dealing with highly specialized military
installations. David Hudock, National Director of Defense
and Federal Government Relations with PCL Construction, emphasized that bringing constructors, designers,
and public owners together before a design is locked in
is no longer a luxury—it is an absolute necessity for cost
and schedule risk mitigation.
The federal government, primarily through Defence
Construction Canada (DCC) and the Department of National Defence (DND), has made considerable strides by
utilizing progressive delivery mechanisms like modi昀椀ed
design-build and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). These frameworks are speci昀椀cally
designed to execute front-end planning that derisks the eventual construction phase, stabilizes
pricing, and prevents the schedule slippage that
frequently plagues public megaprojects.
“Collaboration is key and fundamental to the
success of these projects,” Hudock explained.
“The best, most e昀昀ective projects are when as
many or all of the parts and the stakeholders in
a project right from the beginning, right to the
end collaborate and work towards making sure
we get the best output.”
In an in昀氀ationary climate where metal fabrication, structural steel, and specialized plumbing costs continue to escalate, waiting even a
few years to advance a project exponentially increases the
burden on taxpayers.
“Every year you wait, that the project that you want to
have built is going to cost more,” Hudock warned. Early
contractor involvement directly mitigates these in昀氀ationary shocks by enabling long-lead procurement. “If we can
get a design in and know what our structural steel needs
to be and order that structural steel even a few years
ahead of time, that will save projects big money.”
Volume and complexity in the high Arctic
Nowhere is the necessity for rigorous planning and early
collaboration more acute than in Canada’s Far North. Peter
Crain, Principal with Colliers Project Leaders, summarized
the Arctic challenge in two words: volume and complexity.
“DND has been planning, has had plans to expand its
footprint in the North for a lot of years... And now the
rubbers really hit the road,” said Crain. “So, the opportunity is here and it’s huge. It’s huge for Canada, it’s huge
for Northern communities, and it’s huge for our Arctic
partners as well.”
For over a decade, national defence planners have
mapped out strategies to expand Canada’s northern footprint, but the geopolitical urgency of the present moment
has accelerated those plans. The sheer volume of incoming work is unprecedented. DND is advancing forward
operating bases, establishing “hubs and spokes” operational support concepts, implementing NORAD modern-
ization, updating sensor defense networks, and building
out Defence of Canada 昀椀ghter infrastructure.
Crucially, this military build-up is occurring in tandem
with major “nation-building” and economic development
initiatives managed by the Major Projects O昀케ce (MPO), including the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the Gray’s Bay
Arctic Security Corridor. This dual expansion will inevitably
spark signi昀椀cant territorial and municipal development.
“We’re going to see probably population growth up
there,” Crain explained. “With population growth, means
municipalities need to expand their facilities. There needs
to be housing. There’s a lot of infrastructure that’s going
to go in to support the people that are supporting these
new military installations up there.”
“The best, most effective projects are when as many or
all of the parts and the stakeholders in a project right
from the beginning, right to the end collaborate and
work towards making sure we get the best output.”
This immense volume collides directly with the absolute complexity of building above the treeline. Hudock
noted that construction veterans who have spent decades
working in Canada’s remote Arctic share a unanimous
warning: everything standard about southern construction must be unlearned when moving north.
“Mother Nature will sometimes literally shut you
down from being able to build for an entire season,”
Hudock cautioned. Logistics in the Far North are entirely
dictated by tightly constrained environmental windows.
The vast majority of heavy building materials must be
meticulously cataloged, packed, and shipped via sealift
from regions like Quebec. These vessels have a restrictive
three-to-four-month summer window to navigate icechoked waters and complete their deliveries, according
to Hudock. If a severe Arctic storm or unseasonal ice
pack prevents a ship from reaching its destination, an
entire year of construction can be lost instantly. While air
transport via northern aviation hubs like Yellowknife or
Inuvik remains an option for smaller components, 昀氀ying
in heavy structural materials is economically prohibitive
and fundamentally alters the cost dynamic of a project.
To overcome these barriers, northern infrastructure
must be approached with an unparalleled degree of planning redundancy. “Plan your construction project, plan
your build, then plan it again, then start all over and plan
it yet again,” said Hudock. “Everything has to be planned
to the nth degree.”
JULY/AUGUST 2026 – RENEW CANADA 11
