“With modern, secure and accessible facilities, this new justice complex will improve access to justice for Canadians and preserve judicial independence,” Minister of Public Services and Procurement Jean-Yves Duclos said in a May 17 news release.
Work is already underway on the $165 million, 10-storey project on a block bounded by Notre-Dame Street West, Place d’Armes, Saint-Jacques Street and Saint-Laurent Boulevard.
Slated to open in 2027, the complex will house courtrooms and offices for the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada, as well as facilities for the Courts Administration Service (CAS). The courts currently use leased premises in the city.
According to the government news release, the environmentally friendly structure will be built to LEED Gold and WELL Silver standards and has been designed by Canada-based Architecture49 Inc. and the Canadian arm of international architectural firm Perkins&Will to blend in with Old Montreal’s historic architecture. The 2,000-square-metre property was a parking lot and was purchased from the City of Montreal for $8.48 million in 2020.
As in other parts of Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the push for modernization of Quebec’s court system, Quebec Superior Court Chief Justice Marie-Anne Paquette told Law360 Canada in September 2022.
“We have before us a unique convergence of technological, logistical and human factors creating a singular opportunity to modernize justice in Quebec,” she said at the time. “The legal community has an appetite for change and modernization. This alone proves that change and modernization are sorely needed.”
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