In 2015, PCL and partner Construction C.A.L. completed the Deloitte Tower — the first privately owned and financed commercial office tower built in downtown Montreal in more than 20 years. This project continued our long-standing relationship with Cadillac Fairview, which, as of 2021, has spanned 40 years and nearly 300 projects totaling more than $4 billion.

This building was Cadillac Fairview’s first major class A tower in the Montreal market. It features 495,000 square feet of space across 26 stories, as well as a courtyard with enhanced landscaping features and a reflecting pool that becomes a skating rink in the winter.

Deloitte Tower sits in the heart of downtown Montreal, with direct access to the Montreal Metro system and the Exo transit system. It has direct links to the Bell Centre arena to the west and to historic Windsor Station to the east. In fact, we salvaged a heritage structure that was part of the original Windsor Station and integrated it as a key architectural feature into the main lobby of the new building.

The tower is LEED Platinum certified and is part of Green at Work, Cadillac Fairview’s sustainable building operations program in Canada. As we do with so many of our clients, we collaborated with Cadillac Fairview to meet their green construction goals. To go along with the green initiative, the building includes indoor storage space to accommodate 197 bicycles, plus shower facilities and lockers for bike commuters.

One quintessentially Canadian challenge the PCL team had to overcome while constructing Deloitte Tower was the winter weather: workers endured two of the most severe winters Montreal had ever experienced over the course of the three-year build. Unexpected subsurface conditions and a general construction strike in 2013 also disrupted plans, but crews worked around the clock to mitigate delays and complete the project on schedule.

To be a good neighbor to the surrounding communities, we:

• Implemented forward-thinking approaches to phasing and planning, minimizing operational disruption at adjacent properties.
• Honored requests from the Bell Centre for quiet hours during events and event preparations.
• Built a temporary pedestrian bridge so people could access a major transit station.
• Rescheduled demolition activities to accommodate power upgrades to a nearby hotel.

Through rigorous quality control and an iterative mockup process, PCL met the client’s expectations and provided high-quality finishing in the building’s two lobbies and in other owner-provided spaces. We used 3D modelling and 4D scheduling to sequence work in complex, detailed areas, thereby minimizing inefficiencies and improving the coordination of on-site material fabrication and installation.

With its convenient downtown location and connections to multiple transportation options, Deloitte Tower is an attractive, sustainable addition to the Montreal skyline.