Summary#
Montréal city council unanimously adopted an orientation on a contract decision for the permanent backup 9-1-1 centre for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), site 2. It set the city’s position to award the contract and authorize related budgets; the agglomeration council makes the final decision at a later meeting. City staff say the project’s goal is to turn the building used for the temporary 9-1-1 centre into a permanent backup centre and improve its performance.
- The proposed contract is with a group of five firms: CCM2 Architectes inc., Cardin Julien inc., L2C Experts-Conseils inc., Équipe Laurence inc. and CBTEC inc. It covers architecture and engineering services for plans and specifications, construction oversight and related work.
- The group received the highest final score under the pre-set selection criteria. Eight bids were submitted.
- The services include developing options to optimize the work, preparing plans and specifications and tender documents, estimating construction costs, overseeing construction, and providing warranty-period services. Additional services include acoustic, elevator, hardware, lighting, soil-contamination, telecommunications, signage and industrial-hygiene advice, plus on-site supervision.
- The proposed total includes the base contract, a contingency budget and an additional-services budget. The decision also requires an evaluation of the firms’ performance.
What it means for you#
- Residents and 9-1-1 users: City staff say the project is intended to support reliable backup call-centre operations. The decision concerns professional services; it does not itself complete the building work or guarantee a particular level of service.
- Agglomeration taxpayers: The decision summary says the agglomeration would bear the full expense because public safety is an agglomeration responsibility.
- The firms: If the contract is awarded, the five-firm group would provide the listed services. The decision gives no contract term.
Money#
The proposed total expenditure is $3,553,982.30, taxes included; no construction budget is stated here.
- Base contract: $2,434,734.74, taxes included ($2,223,237.34 net of tax rebates).
- Contingencies: $486,946.95, taxes included ($444,647.47 net of tax rebates), or 20% of the base contract.
- Additional-services budget: $632,300.61, taxes included ($577,374.74 net of tax rebates), or 26% of the base contract.
- City staff say the expense is in the 2026–2035 capital program. They expect it to be allocated 10% in 2026, 30% in 2027, 18% in 2028, 21% in 2029 and 21% in 2030.
- City staff’s estimate for the contract and contingency was $3,468,841.74, taxes included. The recommended group’s bid and contingency were $455,966.71, or 15.77%, below that estimate.
What is unclear#
- The decision gives no contract duration or completion date.
- It does not explain how requests to use the contingency and additional-services budgets will be approved or reported.
- The decision summary lists eight bids as submitted but shows price and score comparisons for only five bidders.
Case for#
- A permanent backup centre could support continuity of 9-1-1 operations; city staff identify reliability and resilience as project goals.
- The work is planned in phases within one mandate, which city staff say is intended to maintain continuity of operations.
- The recommended group had the highest final score, and its bid plus contingency was below the city’s estimate.
Case against#
- The contingency and additional-services budgets add more than $1.1 million to the base contract. The materials do not detail how those funds would be controlled or reported.
- City staff report that one firm considered the selection criteria very restrictive and another found the project brief unclear. The materials do not explain whether those concerns affected competition.
- The price comparison supplied does not show all eight bids, limiting what readers can assess about the result.