Find out when Calgary's $1.4B cancer centre will open as it nears 90% completion

The Alberta government says construction of the $1.4-billion Calgary Cancer Centre is 90 per cent complete andexpected to open in 2023.

Health Minister Jason Copping said at an announcement Friday morning the city has needed a new cancer centre for quite some time, andit'simportant to stick to schedule.

"The Tom Baker Cancer Centre reached its capacity in 2003 almost 20 years ago and has been bursting at the seams serving so many people struggling with cancers of all kinds," he said.

"We know nearly one in two Albertans is expected to develop cancer over their lifetime. That's 54 Albertans every day who learned that they have cancer and need expert care and specialized health services during some of the most difficult, challenging and painful daysof their lives."

He saysthroughout the pandemicaround 900 construction and trades workers have been on site at any given time to keep the project going.

"We are that much closer to filling the space with equipment and furniture and to seeing nurses and doctors walking down these hallways and into patient rooms to provide advice, give treatment, provide care and hold the patient's hand in comfort," he said.

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The new cancer centrereplacingtheTom Baker Cancer Centrespans more than two-million square feet.

"It's a modern facility with double the capacity of the Tom Bakerplus all services offered under one roof," said the health minister.

He says there will be more than100chemotherapy chairs andpatient exam rooms, 160 inpatient unit beds and12 radiation vaults,among other programs and spaces.

According to a release, once the cancer centre opens it willbe one of the largest and most modern health facilities of its kind.

Premier Jason Kenney says construction of the centre brings hope to many.

"This is where we'll find treatments and medicine that will help tens of thousands of Albertans in their fight to defeat cancer. It will become an international hub for research and innovation that will attract top research scientists from all around the world," he said.

The province said in a release that the project will be handed over to Alberta Health Services to begin clinical commissioning in the fall of 2022, with an anticipated opening in late 2023.