Stanton Hospital should be a $75M boon to Yellowknife contractors

Some Yellowknife contractors are disappointed so far, but hopeful they will get work building the new Stanton Hospital.

At $300 million, it's the biggest construction project in the city's history. Part of the winning bid was a commitment to spend $75 million locally on the construction of it, including $36 million on local labour.

According to the territorial government, any person or business who moves to Yellowknifeto work on the project is considered local.

Though the three-year construction of the project began last fall, most of the local contractors CBC contacted say they have yet to get any business from the project.They did not want the names of their businesses usedbecause they were fearful of losingpossible future business from the project.

But some contractors have been hired on. Capital Transit Mixhas been contracted to do concrete work. CN Doors is providing and installing doors. B.C.-based Western Pacific Enterprises is offering journeymen electricians in Yellowknife $44 an hour plus benefits to work on the project.

"It was always anticipated that there would be some element of a non-resident workforce coming in to complete the project," said Sandy Kalgutkar, a deputy minister with the Department of Finance.

"It's a fairly complex project, so the expectation was always there that there would be some non-resident needed to complete the project within that (three-year) timeframe."

Doubts arise

Doubts about the local benefits of the project were raised when the two general contractors Clark Builders and Bird Construction applied to the city to build a 250-person temporary camp for out-of-town workers.

City council shot down the idea on Tuesday.

A representative of Clark Builders said the project would be "devastated" if the city did not authorize the temporary camp. Others saw it as an attempt by the builders to maximize their profits by avoiding more costly hotels or apartment rentals.

In a letter to the city, Clark and Bird said the companies had spent $54,442 on hotels and apartments in Yellowknife up to the end of April. They estimated they would spend $360,000 on accommodation in the city during construction of the hospital, even if they got the work camp.

The project is being done as a private-public partnership between the territorial government and a consortium of businesses known as the Boreal Health Partnership. Under the agreement, the private partners are responsible for any cost overruns.

The Boreal Health Partnership declinedCBC's requests for an interview about local benefits of the project, but Kalgutkar said even out-of-town workers benefit the city.

"These workers will be providing some economic activity as they come in and spend some money within the community," he said.

The NWT and Nunavut Construction Association also declined to talk about the benefits of the project. Itspresident, Dave Brothers, is with Clark Builders.