CAMPBELL’S BAY — After three years of planning, design work and funding applications, Campbell’s Bay has awarded the construction contract for a new fire hall, moving the project from paper to groundbreaking.
Council voted in July to award the build to Les Entreprises QMD Inc., the lowest compliant bidder, for $9,937,235.63. The station is being constructed jointly with the neighbouring Municipality of Litchfield, which will cover half the construction cost under a mutual fire-protection agreement the two municipalities signed in 2024. The province is contributing roughly $5.9 million through Quebec’s PRACIM infrastructure program, with the municipality’s remaining share covered by borrowing.
The project traces back to January 2023, when Campbell’s Bay and Litchfield began pursuing provincial funding and land approvals for a shared fire station. What started as a roughly $6-million estimate grew steadily over three years of feasibility studies, design revisions and provincial funding delays — the tender was originally expected to open in 2025 but was pushed to February 2026 after Quebec deferred the project’s PRACIM funding by a year.
The building site itself was secured for a symbolic $1, transferred to the municipality in 2025 once design work was complete. With the construction contract now signed, the last outstanding piece is confirmation of a companion application to the federal Canada Strong Communities Fund, which council’s July minutes list as a condition before work can begin on site.
For two small municipalities, the project is a notable undertaking — by far the largest capital expense either has taken on in recent years — and a test case for how rural communities are increasingly pairing up to share the cost of infrastructure that neither could easily afford alone.
Timeline
- January 2023 — Campbell’s Bay and Litchfield begin pursuing provincial funding and land approvals for a joint fire station.
- July–December 2023 — Council approves a feasibility study; a preliminary site plan is presented; the project is added to the three-year capital plan at an estimated $5.9 million.
- 2024 — Prisme Architecture is hired to design the station; Campbell’s Bay and Litchfield formalize their partnership through a mutual fire-protection agreement; design work and site studies proceed through the year.
- January–May 2025 — Design work is completed; the building site is transferred to the municipality for $1; council approves moving to public tender.
- 2025 (mid-year) — Quebec defers the project’s PRACIM funding to the 2026 fiscal year, pushing back the tender timeline.
- February 2026 — The public tender officially opens.
- July 2026 — Council awards the $9.94-million construction contract to Les Entreprises QMD Inc.; provincial funding of $5.9 million is confirmed, pending final approval of a federal funding application.
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