Ottawa Construction News staff writer
A major institutional project intended to serve Inuit patients in the nation’s capital has ground to a halt as Larga Baffin Ltd. confirms its planned six-storey expansion in south Ottawa is on hold indefinitely.
The organization, which provides medical boarding for residents of Nunavut’s Qikiqtani (Baffin) region, has officially withdrawn its building permit application for the site at 1470 Hunt Club Rd. with the project reaching to Sievright Ave. The move follows a breakdown in long-term service contract negotiations with the Government of Nunavut (GN).
In a project update released March 2, Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Jessica Bradley informed residents that the Larga Baffin project team is “adjusting their construction timelines” due to the uncertainty.
“Based on their updated planning, it now appears unlikely that construction will begin as originally scheduled this year or within the next one to two years,” Bradley stated. “Given these revised timelines, the organization has chosen to pause construction activities.”
The delay is rooted in a financial impasse between the territorial government and the federal department of Indigenous Services Canada.
Anne Curley, chairperson of Larga Baffin Ltd., told Nunatsiaq News that while the organization is ready to invest capital and access debt financing, it cannot proceed without a stable, long-term commitment from the GN.
“Until this is resolved, and a contract awarded, all plans for a new facility in Ottawa, regardless of location, are on hold,” Curley said.
The proposed 220-room facility was designed to house up to 350 guests, nearly doubling the capacity of the current 195-bed site on Richmond Road. For the Ottawa construction sector, the pause represents a significant loss of work; the project had recently cleared its final regulatory hurdles, including a 2023 Ontario Land Tribunal dismissal of a neighborhood appeal and formal site plan approval granted in November 2024.
The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Health confirmed it has no agreement for services with Larga Baffin beyond March 2028.
“While discussions continue, the Government of Nunavut is not currently involved in the construction of Larga Baffin’s proposed Ottawa facility,” said Charmaine Deogracias, communications manager for Nunavut’s Department of Health.
The project’s site plan approval remains valid until Nov. 6, 2027. If the funding dispute is not resolved before then, the developers may be forced to restart the municipal approval process from scratch.
