By Mark Buckshon
Ontario Construction News staff writer
An Ontario construction association is urgently calling on the provincial government to intervene in the procurement process for the Ottawa Hospital’s New Campus Development (NCD), demanding that U.S.-based firms be removed from the bidder list.
In a letter sent to Premier Doug Ford on Aug. 19, the Ontario Glass and Metal Association (OGMA) expressed “deep concern” after learning that two American contractors are among the prequalified bidders for the major hospital project’s façade and glazing work. The association is warning that without immediate action, more Ontario manufacturing jobs could be lost.
The OGMA states that the prequalified group includes U.S.-based firms New Hudson Facades and Permasteelisa/Benson. The list also includes Flynn and CGI from Ontario, and Epsylon from Quebec. With bids for the project due by Sept. 5, the matter is “extremely time sensitive,” the association said in its letter.
“To have one project awarded to a foreign firm may be attributed to oversight; to allow it to happen again is indefensible,” OGMA President Blake Sanders wrote in the letter.
A spokesperson for The Ottawa Hospital referred Ontario Construction News to Infrastructure Ontario (IO) for any news about the Sept. 5 bidding deadline and results.
IO spokesman Ian McConachie said in a Sept. 15 statement: “The Ottawa Hospital – Civic Campus Redevelopment project is currently in the Development Phase and the final contract has not yet been awarded. The contracting consortium, Ottawa Hospital Build Partners, is made up of leading Canadian construction firms.”
The OGMA’s plea follows what it calls the “highly controversial” awarding of the façade contract for the Trillium M project in Mississauga to Permasteelisa/Benson. The association describes the company as U.S.-owned, with manufacturing facilities in Mexico that use non-Canadian components.
Following that decision, the OGMA claims Harmon Canada announced the closure of its 330,000-sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Brampton. The closure resulted in “the loss of hundreds of skilled, long-standing, and well-paying Ontario jobs.” Sanders called the shutdown a “devastating blow… that could have been avoided with a more locally focused procurement approach.”
To highlight the consequences, the association invited the Premier’s office to the public auction of Harmon Canada’s facility in Brampton, scheduled for Sept. to 17.
The OGMA had previously written to the Premier’s office on June 13, asking for government intervention to ensure the Ottawa Hospital project would be limited to Canadian companies. As of their Aug. 19 letter, the association had received no response, a silence it finds “disappointing and deeply concerning.”
The organization is calling on the government to take three immediate actions:
- Review the bidder list for the Ottawa Hospital NCD project.
- Disqualify non-Canadian bidders.
- Establish a procurement policy that prioritizes Ontario-based contractors for provincially funded infrastructure projects.
The letter notes the apparent contradiction between the government’s recent support for Ontario industries impacted by U.S. aluminum tariffs and the inclusion of American firms on a major publicly funded project.
“This is not just a question of fair competition—it is a matter of economic responsibility,” the letter states.
Updated with comments from IO and The Ottawa Hospital.
