Canmore Doubles Downtown Washroom Budget After Construction Bids Soar

Canmore council has approved more than doubling the budget for its downtown public washroom replacement project to $1.46 million after two construction bids came in well above budget, despite concerns from some councillors over the price tag.

Council voted 5-2 on June 30 to add $760,000 to the project, bringing the total budget to $1.46 million. The additional funding will come from the town's Asset Replacement/Rehabilitation Reserve.

The project will replace the aging modular public washroom beside the former downtown Visitor Information Centre at 907 7th Ave. with a larger facility featuring 10 single-user stalls, including an accessible stall and a family stall. The modular building is intended as an interim solution until the town can eventually build a permanent public washroom as part of a future downtown transit hub. Construction is expected to begin in August and conclude by late October or early November.

Although the new washroom will be prefabricated, the project involves far more than delivering and installing the building. It includes extensive site preparation, utility connections, concrete work, accessibility upgrades and other infrastructure needed to support the facility. The town sought bids for that work earlier this year, but a contractor has not yet been publicly selected.

Administration said the budget increase became necessary after the town received two qualified bids for the site preparation, utility connections and other infrastructure work needed to install the new washrooms this spring. Both significantly exceeded the available funding and were consistent with one another, indicating the higher costs reflected current market conditions.

Crystal Jones, the town's facilities project manager, said much of the increase reflects the site work and utility infrastructure required to install the new facility, including a new concrete pad, accessible ramps, water, sanitary sewer and stormwater upgrades, along with electrical and mechanical systems, lighting and ventilation for year-round use.

"The cost increase is primarily due to three factors," Jones said. "We believe the modular units came in higher than originally budgeted for. The civil works are more complex than initially anticipated and an overall market escalation has impacted both the modular construction and the civil site works costs."

The written report to council also attributes the increase to higher construction costs driven by tariffs and rising material prices. It says the complexity of the required underground servicing also contributed to the overall cost.

Jones said the existing washrooms, built in 1989, are undersized, no longer meet modern accessibility standards and have reached the end of their useful life. The replacement will increase capacity while improving accessibility through individual universal stalls.

Administration warned delaying the project would likely mean missing this year's construction season, pushing the work into 2027 and exposing the town to additional inflationary cost increases.

Jones said timing is critical because construction needs to occur before winter conditions set in.

"Delay, we will miss the construction season, prolong the service gap and there is chance for further cost increases to creep in," she said.

Mayor Sean Krausert said the increase was difficult to accept but necessary.

"Without a doubt, there's sticker shock associated with when you have a project over doubling in cost," he said.

Krausert said the replacement had been sought for years.

"This has been a long needed project," he said. "This is something that is way overdue from the perspective of businesses."

Coun. Jennifer Marran supported the project but raised concerns about removing the only downtown public washrooms during August, one of Canmore's busiest tourism months. She asked administration to consider temporary facilities, such as portable toilets, during construction.

Jones said staff would examine those options.

Marran also questioned how long the "interim" washrooms would remain in place before a future downtown transit hub is built.

Coun. Tanya Foubert said mountain communities routinely invest heavily in public washrooms because they serve millions of visitors each year.

"We live in a place where millions of people come and we have to provide services for them," she said.

Counc. Wade Graham said there was "no doubt" Canmore needs quality public washrooms downtown but the cost was too high to support.

"I cannot in good conscience spend $140,000 per stall for a washroom. Just can't do that."

The motion passed 5-2, with Counc. Jeff Mah and Graham opposed.