Calgary event centre dodges tariff bullet for now — but can't avoid U.S. purchases forever
Focused on sourcing non-U.S. materials, city says project is on time and on budget
City council's event centre committee has officially been dissolved, leaving city administration with the substantial task of keeping the $926-million project on time and on budget — in the face of tariff whiplash.
In its final meeting Thursday, the committee heard Scotia Place has avoided any tariff impacts so far.
Project lead Robert Hunter said they've been able to source all materials from Canada and Europe to date — including an $80-million steel contract with Walters Group, which secured the material from Europe and will fabricate it in Ontario.
Other contracts, such as excavation, are being handled by local firms.
But the city is only 30 per cent through its procurement process so far, and it won't be able to avoid purchasing from the United States forever.
"The ones that we still have to look at are seats, video boards, sound systems that are almost 100 [per cent] U.S. sourced. So we still got a lot of work to do," said Hunter.
"Let's hope that things settle as they are today, and hopefully they are prolonged over our term of procurement."
Nine months into the 36-month construction project, excavation work on the event centre site is 90 per cent complete. Roughly 308,000 cubic metres of dirt will have been removed by the time that stage of construction is finished.
The city has committed $232 million to the project so far, according to Hunter.
He said he's confident the doors to Scotia Place will open in the fall of 2027 as planned.
It was all positive news for Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, the committee chair, but she acknowledged there could be a bumpy road ahead.
"What's important is as of today, we're on time and on budget. Tariffs haven't impacted this project. That being said, we don't know what will happen next week. We don't know what will happen months from now. But administration is on top of it all," said Sharp.
The committee was formed in 2022, after the former $600-million deal between the city and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation collapsed due to rising costs.
After the committee revived the project with a new, pricier deal and helped the city through the development phase, Sharp said the project is now being left in good hands.
At this pace, Scotia Place could be following in the footsteps of its neighbour, the BMO Centre expansion, which was delivered on time and on budget late last year.
Updates on the event centre will now be shared through the city's infrastructure and planning committee, and construction milestones will be shared with the public.