The McGill Sustainability Park formerly known as the New Vic Project– Excavation (Breaking Ground for Pavilion N)
A major milestone has been reached for the McGill Sustainability Park: excavation and the drilling of geothermal wells of Pavilion N, including civil works, is now underway!
Attaining this goal has been a team effort. To pave the way, Procurement first launched a Call for Interest on SEAO, open for two months. This approach helped us identify potential bidders early on and offered the opportunity to ask questions and share insights before the official tender.

Building on this momentum, the Call for Tender was published from March 24 to June 12, 2025. Thanks to strong market engagement, four bids were received, demonstrating healthy competition and critically resulted in significant cost efficiencies for the project.
With the contract awarded and shovels in the ground as of September 2025, the McGill Sustainability Park moves forward, transforming vision into reality.
The McGill Sustainability Park – A McGill First: Skylights and Design Assist
Another exciting milestone is unfolding at the McGill Sustainability Park: the award of the skylights contract to Seele Canada Inc. This marks a first for McGill — the use of a Design Assist approach — and it has been both a challenge and an opportunity for innovation.
To respect budget constraints while advancing a highly technical scope, Procurement and the project team developed a two-phase strategy:
Phase 1 – Design Assist Services
- Seele will provide design assistance services, working closely with the architects and project team to refine the skylight solution.
- Phase 1 is critical to ensure the final design meets technical requirements, the project schedule, and the budgetary target.
- Only upon successful completion of Phase 1 will the project move into Phase 2.
Phase 2 – Fabrication and Installation
- Seele will manufacture and install the skylight components in line with the approved final design.


To further mitigate financial risk, the contract has been awarded in its entirety but with a firm cap of $10.75M for Fabrication and Installation. This ensures budget control while still allowing flexibility to refine the design during Phase 1. A separate price was submitted for the Design Assist services as a lump sum.
Collaboration between Seele, the professionals, and the project team will officially begin the first week of October 2025. Together, they will refine the scope, explore optimizations, and bring to life a striking architectural feature of the McGill Sustainability Park.
Stay tuned for more updates as the McGill Sustainability Park advances, with Procurement at the heart of each milestone.
Read more about the McGill Sustainability Park on the McGill Reporter.