Article / January 6, 2016 / Project number: 15-0015

Ottawa, Ontario — The Department of National Defence (DND) maintains approximately 21,000 buildings; 2.25 million hectares of land (almost four times the landmass of Prince Edward Island); 5,500 kilometres of roads (roughly the distance between Calgary and Halifax); and 3,000 kilometres of water, storm, and sewer pipes (roughly the distance between Ottawa and Saskatoon).

There are also various barracks, hangars, airfields, and ports on its Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force bases and wings across the nation. In addition, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) maintains more than 100 Reserve Force armouries, usually found not on bases but in civilian communities.

That’s approximately $26 billion in real property assets. The term “real property” in this context can be defined as the buildings and other structures and the land upon which they are built.

DND is in the process of restructuring how these assets are managed in order to continue to deliver infrastructure, environment programs and services consistent with industry best practices – all while providing the best value for money for Canadians and supporting other Canadian Armed Forces and federal government transformation initiatives.

That real property portfolio will soon become the responsibility of a single entity: Assistant Deputy Minister (Infrastructure and Environment), or ADM(IE) for short, at Department of National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa.

Prior to this centralization initiative, assets were managed by nine separate custodians, which oversaw maintenance, improvement and capital construction for their real property. In general, maintenance and small betterment funding was received from the Deputy Minister and dispensed according to the individual custodians’ priorities.

The centralization process began in April 2014. A year later, the number of custodians was reduced to four after bases and armouries in British Columbia; the far North; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the National Capital Region and Borden, in Ontario, were transferred to ADM(IE) . Transfer of the remaining bases is on track for completion by March 31, 2016.

A plan into action: Five new blended regions established

“ In the future, when it’s all under ADM(IE) , there will no longer be environmental affiliations [with the Navy, Army or Air Force], ” explained Major Irv Marucelj of the Director of the Army Staff. “ There will simply be five regions: Pacific, West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic, as well as two detachments: North, and Central/National Capital Region. ”

“In the future, when it’s all under ADM(IE) , there will no longer be environmental affiliations [with the Navy, Army or Air Force]. There will simply be five regions: Pacific, West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic, as well as two detachments: North, and Central/National Capital Region.” Major Irv Marucelj of the Director of the Army Staff

The Army chain of command will continue to have valued input into ADM(IE) ’s plan.

“ Each region and base will have an engineer in charge who will work with the local commanders to address their real property requirements, ” said Maj Marucelj.

A governance structure has been created that will allow commanders at all levels of the organization to voice their operational requirements, in order to ensure the real property portfolio is capable of enabling the success of the Canada First Defence Strategy.

Using a life cycle management approach, the goal is to build and manage an affordable, integrated DND real property portfolio, as well as to deliver top quality services designed to support the Canadian Armed Forces while promoting environmental sustainability.

Pre-centralization efforts by the Canadian Army to optimize real property use

As the wider DND centralization initiative was getting underway, the Canadian Army was launching similar initiatives of its own: one to pare down surplus capacity in the real property portfolio and another to ensure existing facilities and new construction are utilized to the fullest extent.

Before the reorganization, the Army had by far the lion’s share of these holdings – not surprising considering the colossal size of the Canadian landmass. Finding the best way to manage this vast array of assets effectively and efficiently is a challenge that is always a work in progress.

The Infrastructure Divestment Plan is an Army-wide, multi-year plan to demolish or otherwise divest real property that is no longer in use and that is a recurring expense. DND has been extremely supportive of the plan, implemented in Fiscal Year 2013/2014, dedicating additional funds on an annual basis against this task.

While the divestment plan reduces unused space, another Army initiative, the Infrastructure Optimization Directive, ensures optimal use of existing facilities and new construction. This directive not only implements modern workplace standards but also promotes the sharing of under-utilized assets in the DND portfolio.

Military requirements, both in terms of access and capacity, will be met through a number of optimization exercises. These changes will help the CAF find efficiencies and increase collaboration across the country to better manage its real property.

By Lynn Capuano and Steven Fouchard, Army Public Affairs