uOttawa starts construction on Advanced Medical Research Centre
The University of Ottawa broke ground on construction of a significant new project last month.
Members of the Ottawa health-care community joined researchers, educators, community leaders and investors to officially mark the start of construction on the Advanced Medical Research Centre (AMRC). The facility is the University of Ottawa’s new initiative to grow the medical biotechnology sector in the Ottawa region.
Scheduled to open in 2026, the ARMC is uOttawa’s largest capital investment in its history. It will bridge the gap between the discovery and commercialization of health-care treatments, providing 350,000 square feet of ultra-modern laboratory and research space.
Construction is being led by PCL, and the facility has been designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. WSP in Canada is providing a number of services in support, including mechanical and electrical engineering, energy modeling, sustainability and LEED services, building science services, landscape architecture, acoustics, and municipal planning.
“Building quality health care for tomorrow depends on how we, as a society, invest in health research today,” said uOttawa President Jacques Frémont. “For years, researchers, innovators and health-care leaders have noted how a shortage of up-to-date research and wet-lab facilities has limited this region’s potential to be a leader in health-care innovation and biotech commercialization. This has impeded, not only health-related research and development, but our ability to attract and retain top global talent in health-care innovation.”
Adjacent to the Faculty of Medicine, and in close proximity to the Ottawa Hospital General Campus and CHEO, the AMRC will house laboratories, technology platforms and other essential infrastructure. One key feature will be the Ottawa Health Innovation Hub, where researchers will team up with clinicians and investors to incubate and scale up startups to accelerate the commercialization of novel treatments.
“(The AMRC) will allow us to accelerate the pace of our discoveries and train more scientists for the future,” said Dr. Julie St-Pierre, professor at the Faculty of Medicine and associate vice-president, research support and infrastructure, at uOttawa. “It will permit basic discoveries to move quickly through the research and innovation pipeline so that we can maximize the impact of our work for the community.”
The National Capital Region is increasingly being recognized as a hub of health research and innovation.
On May 6, Jean-Yves Duclos, minister of public services and procurement, announced that the University of Ottawa and McMaster University would share an investment from the Government of Canada of more than $115 million to jointly lead the new Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub, which will be part of the AMRC.