Department of National Defence Lab in Alberta Moves to Design Phase
Suffield Research Centre in Alberta, Canada. A new facility will replace aging infrastructure from the 1950s. Image: Courtesy of Department of National Defence
The Department of National Defence (DND) has officially moved into the design phase for a $750-million state-of-the-art laboratory facility at the Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) Suffield research center near Medicine Hat, Alberta. The new facility will replace existing infrastructure built in 1955, which has been deemed inadequate for supporting modern research technologies.
“Modern medical and scientific research facilities require specialized devices and advanced computing power to allow researchers to create analytical models and understand results. The current facility does not support new technologies and is at the end of its life cycle,” Andrée-Anne Poulin, media relations for National Defence, tells Lab Design News.
“Providing members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence staff with the facilities and tools they need to perform their work is our foremost priority—this is why we are investing in the construction of a new facility and supporting infrastructure to house research laboratories at CFB Suffield,” says Poulin. “This new laboratory complex will consolidate many of the existing facilities and provide safe and modern laboratory and research space, office space, workshops, secure computing areas, storage and common areas to ensure that DRDC Suffield’s cutting-edge research continues to serve the Canadian Armed Forces into the future.”
An image of the Suffield Research Centre during the 1950s. Image: Courtesy of Department of National Defence
The project received Ministerial Approval to proceed to design in September 2024. A Request for Proposals (RFP) for Design-Builder services was issued in December and a contract was expected to be awarded by the end of this fiscal year (March 31, 2025). The successful bidder will assist in identifying and developing design requirements for new laboratory facilities at CFB Suffield. The overall project cost is $751,825,924, including taxes.
With the goal of groundbreaking in 2027 and completion by 2032, the initiative represents the largest single federal investment in the history of southeast Alberta. An environmental impact assessment process is currently underway, with a request for proposals expected to close by March 2025.
“SRC (Suffield Research Centre) will continue to offer valuable research to support the Canadian Armed Forces into the future. SRC invests in unique and sensitive science and technology capabilities including chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear (CBRN) defence in the areas of personnel defence and medical countermeasures, blast protection and injury, advanced energetics and weapons effects, autonomous systems, and training in CBRN defense,” Poulin says. “The SRC’s unique experimental proving grounds is one of the world’s largest instrumented outdoor laboratories at approximately 500 square kilometers. The experimental proving grounds is one of the few locations in Canada that could hosts events such as the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (CUAS) Sandbox. The next CUAS Sandbox is planned for 2026.”
