Public Notice

The National Printing Bureau Lateral Connection to ESAP District Energy System – Public Comments Invited

February 19, 2026 – The authorities must determine whether the proposed National Printing Bureau Lateral Connection to ESAP District Energy System, located in Gatineau is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this determination, the authorities are inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. All comments received will be considered public and may be posted online.

Written comments must be submitted by March 22, 2026 to:

Environment, Health and Safety

Public Services and Procurement Canada

11 Laurier St, Portage III, Place du Portage
Gatineau, QC  K1A 0S5

Email: TPSGC.RCNLVEEListedeControle-NCRECMPChecklist.PWGSC@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca

 

The Proposed Project

The Energy Services Acquisition Program (ESAP) is a federal greening government program initiated to modernize the National Capital Region District Energy System (NCR DES), which provides heating services to over 80 buildings and cooling services to nearly 70 buildings in the National Capital Region. The ESAP program is a demonstration of the Government of Canada leading by example in the context of climate change, by making its own operations greener and adopting technologies that significantly cut carbon pollution, improve energy efficiency, increase safety and reliability, and ensure a safer future for our children and generations to follow.

The National Printing Bureau Lateral Connection project sets out to connect ESAP heating and cooling services to the National Printing Bureau (NPB) building at 45 Sacré-Coeur to the ESAP NCR DES. The new construction work includes new interior distribution heating and cooling piping within the ESAP Gatineau Energy Centre (GEC) and the NPB, a new energy transfer station inside NPB as well as exterior direct buried piping connecting the two buildings. Both the NPB and GEC are existing PSPC building sites. The exterior work is not near any water body, and no removal of vegetation and demolition work is planned. The work is scheduled to begin in the Spring 2026.

The NPB Lateral Connection project to the NCR DES is subject to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) review and approval. The proposed project will take place on PSPC lands and is subject to a federal land use, design, and real estate transaction approval under the National Capital Act. The PSPC Environmental COE has made a determination that project works shall be considered a Basic Project under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) 2019. In addition to the NCC, other Federal Authorities may be identified during the project development process, and if so, will be coordinated with them.

 

Figure 1: Location of the NPB and GEC worksites.

 

Figure 2: Proposed direct buried pipe routing between the GEC and NPB buildings.

The project construction activities for the areas includes:

• Site mobilization, fencing, limited site stripping and clearing, temporary relocation GEC landscape features, excavation, installation of direct buried piping, and reinstatement of the impacted hard and soft landscaping to pre-development conditions.

The majority of the construction exterior work is expected use a combination mechanized equipment, such as excavators, skid-steer loader and dump trucks, along with hand-held power tools, such as small electric, gas or pneumatic operated tools (i.e., quick cut concrete saw, chipping tools, welding machines, and grinders etc.). Construction work will abide by all municipal by-laws, including noise.