Multi-Million Dollar Military Project Boosts Victoria Construction Industry

A $23-million construction project at CFB Esquimalt has boosted the spirits of Victoria-area contractors eager to compete for the job.
“It’s a great shot in the arm, especially right now,” Peter White, chairman of the Vancouver Island Construction Association, told the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper Monday. Construction jobs in the region have been hard to come by, although some developers are planning highrises in the capital region, he said.
This new tender issued by Defense Construction Canada to build a crescent-shaped utility corridor more than 900 metres long at the navy base is one of the largest seen in Greater Victoria for many months. Its value is estimated at nearly $23.2 million. Bids close at 2 p.m. on April 3.
The utility corridor is a critical phase in the years-long $250-million upgrading of Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton, which repairs and overhauls vessels at the base.
Between 40 and 50 jobs are expected to be created by this project, including 20 electrical workers at its peak, said Philip Venoit, president of the Vancouver Island Building Construction Trades Council.