It took a decade to plan and a few years to build, and the result is the biggest cancer facility in Canada. The Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre opened to patients in October 2024 on Calgary’s Foothills medical campus, pulling treatment, research, and clinical trials under one very large roof.
Project Scope
The building spans roughly 127,000 square meters across 13 floors, with 160 inpatient beds and more than 9,200 square meters set aside purely for research. PCL Construction delivered it under a design-build contract worth about CAD1.1bn, with architecture and interiors by Stantec and DIALOG and engineering by Arup. Construction wrapped in late 2022, and the long gap to the 2024 opening went to commissioning, fit-out, and the careful migration of cancer services from the older Tom Baker centre.
Why It Matters
One of the largest public infrastructure projects in Alberta’s history, the centre puts patient care and research deliberately close together, the idea being that a new therapy should travel from lab bench to patient on the same campus. Its cost arc is also a familiar one for big institutional builds, rising from early estimates near CAD1.4bn toward CAD1.8bn all-in by the time the doors opened. California is living the same story with hospital replacements like the UC Davis California Tower, where seismic deadlines and research ambitions push budgets the same direction.
Project Team & Details
| Developer | Alberta Infrastructure |
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| Owner / Client | Alberta Health Services |
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| Architect | Stantec / DIALOG |
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| Consultants | Arup (Engineering) |
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| General Contractor | PCL Construction Management |
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| Status | Completed |
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| Delivery Method | Design-Build |
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| Sustainability Certification | LEED Gold (target) |
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| Funding Source | Public (State) |
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