NANAIMO – Hundreds of local construction jobs are coming to the mid-island as Stuart Olson Construction Ltd. was selected as the design-build team for the new Nanaimo Correctional Centre.
BC Corrections and the Ministry of Citizens’ Services announced the successful proponent, following consecutive open request for qualifications and request for proposals processes that began in June 2019. Stuart Olson Construction Ltd. includes the local expertise of 17 collaborating partners. The two local First Nations, Snuneymuxw and Snaw’Naw’As, will also have input into the design as well as job and contract opportunities during construction.
Key features of this project include:
- 650 direct and 275 indirect jobs, plus nearly 100 additional jobs associated with spending by those workers;
- Vancouver Island’s first provincial custody unit for women, adding separate capacity for accommodating women who require short-term custody while on remand or awaiting transfer to serve a sentence;
- modernized spaces for educational, vocational and certified trades training in addition to rehabilitative and culturally responsive Indigenous programming; and
- cell capacity to meet the projected Vancouver Island needs over the next 10 years.
With contract signing forthcoming, design activities by Stuart Olson Construction Ltd. are expected to commence in January 2021, with pre-construction proceeding in the first quarter of 2021.
