Once complete, the mine will become one of Canada’s largest. The initial capital-construction budget for the project is approximately $1.5 billion, with work scheduled to take place over two years.

Community opposition to the e-commerce giant’s proposal to convert a Cornwall Road facility into a distribution centre was enough to convince Amazon to locate its services elsewhere.

The building in Orillia, which was built at a cost of $20 million, was constructed by Bird Capital OMP Project Co Inc. under a P3 arrangement.

Detailed design is now underway with construction expected to start in late 2023.

Construction employment in September was 3.8 percent (+54,300 workers) ahead of employment in the same period last year.