Cuts jeopardize health in federal buildings: documents

OTTAWA — Officials warned the government late last year that without a significant boost in repair funds, aging and crumbling federal buildings could soon become unfit for workers and jeopardize health and safety.

The situation outlined in briefings to Public Services Minister Judy Foote in November, shortly after the Liberals took office and Foote took up her ministerial posting, appeared dire.

The department was so cashstrapped that it could no longer pay for building inspections used to uncover health and safety risks and identify required repairs.

Utilities and services could stop without additional funding, say the documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. And service levels had fallen so far that they were “well below” what the government’s private service providers were giving their nongovernment clients. In the last fiscal year, officials calculated they needed at least $200 million to cover a budget shortfall and operate at minimal service levels.

Going forward, department officials estimated they would need at least $350 million a year to pay for badly needed repairs and maintenance work that had been scaled back for years under budget cuts instituted by the previous Conservative government. The money would cover what the documents describe as an annual shortfall in funding that meant the government “cannot repair its portfolio” of buildings.

The Liberals set aside $248 million for repairs and maintenance to federal buildings so far this fiscal year, which would be $100 million short of what officials estimated is needed.

A spokeswoman for Foote said the department didn’t recommend the Liberals spend $350 million in the 2016 budget and that the number was a “preliminary forecast” for possible requirements.

Jessica Turner said the government remained “committed to providing safe, healthy and productive work environments for federal employees and occupants of buildings it owns and manages.”

Public Services and Procurement Canada acts as custodian for 7.3 million square metres of office space used by about 265,000 public servants spread across 98 federal departments and agencies.