
Cost of building tent-like migrant shelter pegged at $15M
The City of Ottawa has found a contractor to design and build a tent-like structure to shelter migrants, with an estimated price tag of up to $15 million.
In a post on the city’s online public consultation portal Engage Ottawa on Tuesday, the city said BLT Construction Services is the only available and qualified vendor to provide a “Sprung Instant Structure” that will house a newcomer reception centre.
Sprung Structures is a leading manufacturer of tensile fabric structures that can be quickly built and customized. BLT would oversee the design of the structure, as well its construction and interior fit-up.




As Canada plans cuts to immigration, Ukrainian families say they’re worried and “disoriented” after getting mixed messages about their permanent residency applications under a special humanitarian pathway to reunite families fleeing war.



Justice Marie-Josée Hogue will soon reveal her findings on foreign interference. (Disclosure: I was an invited presenter to the Commission). She has already noted the parties’ defences against penetration do not appear “robust.”

As Canadians grapple with astronomical grocery prices, troublingly high numbers of people are flocking to food banks to feed their families. Last March alone, two million Canadians visited food banks—a staggering 90 per cent increase from 2019—and the most recent figures estimate that 12,000 new users access them every month. Food banks aren’t just frequented by unhoused and precariously employed folks anymore, either: now, one in five users has