THE DISRUPTION’
“We acknowledge that this announcement will raise many questions and concerns with respect to transportation, family issues, and other personal considerations.”
A June 2011 briefing note for Fonberg summed up part of the problem: the Carling site was a “relatively remote location.” Only one in five of DND’s employees live in the west end of Ottawa.
Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, whose office is overseeing the relocation project, acknowledged in a recent interview that employees in the city’s east end, including himself, face a long commute and other difficulties getting to work at the newly named Carling Campus. “If you’re in Orléans like I am, this appears to be a bit daunting.”
Will a long daily commute be enough to send civilian public servants looking for new jobs elsewhere in the federal government? DND doesn’t know. “While impacts for retention have been considered,” a February report produced by DND auditors warned, that “information has not been formally or comprehensively gathered to support informed decision making and to address risks to employee retention.
“No formal departmental survey has been conducted to determine employees’ concerns with the Carling Campus move or their willingness to move.”
Information has been gathered anecdotally or through informal discussions, the auditors added.
Norman said the department recognizes it has to improve communication with employees but noted there has already been a lot of feedback through various meetings and town halls with staff.
“We’re getting a good sense of where their concerns are — in most cases they relate to everything from a degree of personal upheaval and the stresses associated with having to re-locate their job, their office, to commuting to the degree of commercial amenities that are or aren’t out there,” Norman explained.
“There’s a whole range of issues, and our responsibility in that regard is to communicate, to tell them what we’re doing and let them know we are listening.”
But Norman added, “There are clear limits to what we can and can’t do.”
DND has already conducted a survey about how workers commute and use public transit. Another is planned.
Norman said military staff who are being transferred to the Ottawa area are being told that they might want to take the campus location into account when they buy or rent a home.
“For those employees who have been here for decades, they don’t have the same sort of optionality,” added Norman. “But we’ve been trying to get out ahead of this and give people as much advance notice as possible so they’re not surprised that this is coming.”
DND believes that by providing tours of the campus and as much information as possible to employees, it will convince workers of the value of the move. It is also working closely with OC Transpo. On Aug. 1, it set up a shuttle service from key DND buildings in Ottawa and Gatineau out to the Carling Campus. (The service for the moment benefits just the relatively small number of employees from DND, Public Services and Shared Services who are already on site, preparing the groundwork for the major moves.)
Another DND initiative may also provide an alternative for those who don’t want to move. The Carling Campus Job Match, as it is called, would allow full-time DND public servants in the Ottawa area to switch positions with other DND employees who are in the same or equivalent occupation.
It’s designed to take advantage of the fact that nearly half the department’s regional workforce will continue to work out of a handful of downtown locations — including 101 Colonel By Drive, a hub in Gatineau and Star Top Road, the headquarters for operational elements.
“As much as possible, we want to minimize the disruption,” Norman says, “so if we can find an employee who has really got their heart set on staying downtown, then they might be able to transition into one of the organizations that will ultimately be consolidated downtown.”
And if DND does start to lose more personnel than expected in coming months?
“Potential program delivery issues may arise,” warned the recent departmental audit.
But in 2010 the more pressing issue was getting the just-purchased Carling campus ready for new occupants — and coming up with a plan for smoothly transferring 8,500 employees.
The bureaucrats would have to convince the Conservative cabinet that the plan was both workable and affordable — and that DND was actually the right department to lease the Carling campus.
Initial efforts weren’t well received. DND estimated it would cost $700 million-plus to renovate the facilities and get them up to military standards of security. Combined with the purchase price of the campus and one-time transition costs related to breaking leases, this put the upfront costs at close to $1 billion.
While DND could point to estimated annual savings of $30 million a year for the next 25 years — $750 million in total — combined with a more efficient operation, Tory cabinet members were concerned the public’s focus would be on the initial investment, not the long-term savings. This, just as the Conservative government was trimming costs significantly across the board in its drive to return to a balanced budget.
It didn’t help when rumours surfaced that cleaners had discovered electronic listening devices in some of the vacated buildings. Norman recently dismissed these as “legacy bits and pieces” implying they were part of the detritus leftover from Nortel’s days. His organization was “satisfied” the site was ready to be occupied, he said.
DND revamped its game plan. Project managers decided they could make do without two of the older labs (Nortel’s 1 and 4) — thus eliminating the need to fit them up. They also lumped more of the high-security operations together, thereby reducing the number of locations that required the most expensive fit-ups. And, not least, DND took advantage of the recent arrival of Shared Services — which was able to provide basic information technology gear at reduced rates.
DND’s Godbout said this is how the department reduced fit-up costs to $506 million from $700 million. Add to this the $208 million purchase price and $41 million transition costs (including for the actual move). A one-year delay in the start of moving in the first wave of employees has added $36.7 million to transition expenses in the form of extended leases in downtown locations. This brings total upfront costs to nearly $800 million.
Inevitably, there have been surprises along the way. However, the costs associated with these are considered part of the project’s ongoing life- cycle budget, rather than upfront investment — they reflect items from the original building that have become obsolete and need to be replaced. For instance, the project has had to shell out $7.5 million more than expected to bring the Phase 1 buildings up to code to withstand seismic activity. It has also budgeted an extra $31 million to replace defective windows.
“I’ve been in this business more than 35 years,” says Godbout, “and I can tell you we are really concerned about the money we receive from government. This is taxpayers’ money.”
Before it purchased the former Nortel site, relocation project managers at Public Services considered other options to test whether they really were getting value for money. They commissioned a study in 2010 to determine what it would cost to design, build and furnish a similar size headquarters from scratch. The department considered seven potential locations including three in Orléans, two in Kanata and one each in Gatineau and South Ottawa.
“None met all the requirements for security and development potential presented by the Nortel Carling campus,” Public Services concluded.
Indeed, the internal study reckoned that the cost of even the least expensive of the greenfield sites would be 30 per cent higher than going with the Carling campus option.
Following the purchase of the campus, Conservative cabinet asked Public Services to consider whether a group of federal departments — led by Health Canada — could occupy it for less money. Again, the answer was no. Public Services concluded that each department required its own exits and entrances, boardrooms and other pieces of revised architecture. All of this would up the price of a refit.
You could feel the pull of the west end starting two or three years ago for DND people transferring into the city. CHRIS SCOTT I’ve been in this business more than 35 years … I can tell you we are really concerned about the money we receive from government. This is taxpayers’ money. DAN GODBOUT
Of the campus’s tech legacy, only Ciena remains, with more than 1,000 employees in Nortel’s former Lab 10. The company’s lease doesn’t expire until year-end 2017 — at which point its employees will have shifted to a new Ciena headquarters complex in Kanata.
Lab 10 will be the last of the properties on the Carling Campus to be refurbished — under Phase 3 of the DND relocation project.
The first 3,400 DND employees were to have started moving to the campus during the fall of 2015, but several complications, including having to fix the defective windows, conspired to push things back a year.
For instance, the process used by prime contractor Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions to pick its main subcontractors (EllisDon and NORR) took longer than expected “due to the extension of the tendering process and a longer award process,” Public Services noted. Time was also lost because a design consultant wasn’t able to hire staff quickly enough.
The project office claims these problems have been resolved, but it’s a reminder that a construction site is a fluid environment. No one should be surprised if DND’s ambitious timetable over the next 2½ years slips.
“The reality of life is that government contracting is riddled with process,” says a senior manager with an Ottawa firm that has refitted multiple federal office towers. “There are internal agendas all over the place — for example people who may not want to move when the project manager says they should move,” he adds.
When Nortel was at its peak in 2000, it employed nearly 16,000 in the national capital region, with roughly half operating out of the Carling campus. The rest of Nortel’s workers locally were spread across more multiple facilities.
That configuration bears a striking resemblance to DND’s plan. On the face of it, it should give us a reasonable idea about how commuting patterns and housing markets will change.
But there’s a big difference in the respective workforces of Nortel and DND. Nortel employees tended to be creatures of the west end, but DND workers live in all quarters of the region, with a nod toward the east.
According to data provided by DND to transit authorities, 4,200 military and civilian employees live in Ottawa’s east end (Orléans and area) while close to 3,000 commute from Gatineau (Aylmer and surroundings). Large clusters of DND workers can also be found in the city’s west end (2,900), south side (1,900) and rural areas (3,000). Only about 1,200 DND employees live downtown.
Many DND workers — roughly split between civilian and military — rely heavily on transit. It helps that bus routes offered to and from Aylmer and Orléans are reasonably direct. But with the coming shift of their department’s headquarters, this will change.
Consider two common commutes — one from the Galeries Aylmer shopping centre, the other from Trim Park & Ride in Orléans.
The weekday morning trip from Aylmer to 101 Colonel By Dr. takes 48 minutes and requires no transfers. But if you shift the journey to 3500 Carling Ave. — DND’s new headquarters — your morning commute will demand a bus transfer at Tunney’s Pasture and consume an extra 23 minutes.
The difference is even more pronounced for east-end residents. From Trim Park & Ride, a bus ride to DND’s downtown headquarters takes just 28 minutes on Route 91. There’s no need to transfer. Extending the journey to 3500 Carling will require one hour and 21 minutes and demand two transfers.
In anticipation of the DND headquarters shift, transit authorities have been tweaking their systems. Pat Scrimgeour, the assistant general manager for customer systems and planning for OC Transpo, says the transit authority has adjusted several routes to take account of extra volume to and from 3500 Carling.
For instance, key Route 182 has been extended to Tunney’s Pasture station to allow for quicker transfers and “service levels and capacity on these routes will be increased to match expected ridership demand.”
Will tougher commutes be enough to push DND employees off the bus and into their cars — or to make them consider moving to the west end, or to switch jobs to another federal government department?
There are no simple answers. Each DND employee has to consider so many factors, from their children’s ages to the price of housing.
“We’re not hearing a lot of people talking about making a move from Orléans area to be closer to the new DND headquarters,” says Josh Cimon, who’s in charge of business development for Paul Rushforth Real Estate Inc. “If you’ve got kids in high school for another two or three years, you’ll be inclined to stay put for now.”
Another factor is the strong likelihood — especially for those within the military — of getting posted to another city within several years. There’s a significant financial incentive to wait until the transfer becomes real — sell the house just once and avoid significant real estate fees.
Those 3,000 DND employees who live in Gatineau and surrounding areas would also face a potentially steep increase in house prices if they want to move. The average single-family house price in Kanata was $378,000, according to the MLS Home Price Index and Ottawa Real Estate Board. That’s roughly equal to listings in Ottawa South and Orléans, but more than $100,000 higher than the average selling price in Gatineau, according to Centris.
DND employees will likely try out their new commuting routes before making a life-changing decision.
For some, it may not be all that bad: travelling west on the Queensway past downtown generally runs against the rush-hour grain. According to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the daily two-way traffic on the Queensway averages about 165,000 vehicles through the downtown core but drops to 110,000 at Moodie Drive in the west end.
Longer term, the pull of 3500 Carling Avenue should be strong — especially for those moving into the Ottawa area from other military bases.
“You could feel the pull of the west end starting two or three years ago for DND people transferring into the city,” says Chris Scott, a sales representative with Keller Williams VIP Realty. “They have very particular requirements. They want to be closer to the new DND headquarters and because they transfer a lot, they want to be in a community where they can buy and sell homes quickly.”
For many in DND, especially those with younger children, this translates into a fondness for newer developments such as those sprouting up around the Canadian Tire Centre hockey stadium. Four of Scott’s clients have recently bought homes in the Stittsville area. He said one subdivision, Fairwinds, has become so popular with DND employees, some are calling it “CFB Fairwinds” (short for Canadian Forces Base).
Scott’s experience suggests the shift to the west in real estate is already underway. If Ottawa’s new light-rail project eventually extends past the Bayshore Shopping Centre into Kanata, the trend could well accelerate.
The new headquarters are meant to bring DND staff together literally and also functionally. It’s a philosophy being built into its very design.
The layout of the buildings is meant to support “numerous collaboration areas” with comfortable seating for both scheduled and impromptu gatherings. This is designed to promote face-to-face meetings, instead of time-consuming travels to offices around Ottawa and Gatineau.
“And since many of these areas will feature Wi-Fi, people will be able to work on the go instead of being stuck at a desk all day,” DND employees have been informed. “Dedicated secure areas will enable work to be done at each of the security levels and emission security zones, supported by appropriate access controls.”
However, the collaborative strategy also makes the campus vulnerable to foreign spies and others who want access to sensitive information.
“Elements such as remote access to computers, Wi-Fi, lower cubicle walls and other essential elements of the (workplace) setup will require significant changes to the departmental security challenge,” noted a February 2016 DND audit on the headquarters move.
“Departmental assets and information could be placed at risk,” the recently released report concluded.
In particular, the department’s director general of defence security identified the voice over Internet protocol ( VoIP) as vulnerable. That system, which will be in use instead of hard-line telephones, is seen “as a security risk on campus due to potential hacking concerns,” the audit warned.
The department says it is planning to reinforce security policies and procedures for employees who will be moving to the Carling Campus.
Spokeswoman Lt.-Cmdr. Diane Grover said the VoIP systems have undergone a security review, including consultations with officials from the country’s electronic spy agency, the Communications Security Establishment.
“Required controls as well as security best practices are being applied in the implementation of VoIP at Carling Campus,” Grover noted in an email.
Despite potential issues with the high-tech strategy, the new site will give DND more physical security because it relocates many of the organization’s downtown offices, now in commercially owned buildings, behind a guarded perimeter and away from public roadways.
“A controlled access perimeter will be completed this fall,” Grover said of the Carling Avenue site. “Entry will be strictly controlled through several guard houses and pedestrian access points.
“Further, work spaces within the campus will be designated appropriately, reflecting the nature of the work that is conducted in those spaces, as well as the security clearance requirements of anyone wishing to enter those areas,” she added.
The Carling Campus grounds will be similar to military bases such as those in Kingston and Edmonton, Grover pointed out. Although there will be gates and fencing, people will be allowed onto parts of the site to use the many kilometres of public trails.
“However, a second fence line — the controlled access perimeter — will be just that, controlled,” she pointed out. This is where there will be guardhouses and pedestrian access points for which appropriate security passes will be required.
Grover noted that, for example, OC Transpo buses would be allowed onto the grounds but not within the security perimeter.
“The outer perimeter, including the public access areas, will be designated as a defence establishment and will be regularly patrolled by military police,” she said.
Part of their job description undoubtedly will be to keep Nortel’s ghosts on the other side of the fence for evermore.