As Canada more than doubles its defence spending, military infrastructure construction is poised for significant growth.

With $81.8 billion in new federal defence funding committed over five years in Budget 2025 and an estimated $290 billion in defence-related infrastructure spending projected by 2035, demand for military infrastructure is set to accelerate across Canada.

Few people understand the relationship between defence infrastructure and operational capability better than Steven Waddell. After decades of distinguished military service, he rose to serve both as Deputy Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) — responsible for the readiness and resilience of more than 12,000 sailors — and as the Vice Commander of the U.S. Navy’s Second Fleet, where he led operations to ensure Euro-Atlantic maritime security alongside allied nations.

He says both roles sharpened the same conviction: defence capability is only as strong as the infrastructure and facilities that support it.

“I was formerly a base commander, so I know first-hand the condition of much of Canada’s defence infrastructure,” Waddell says. “Over my 36 years of service, when budgets were lower and the phrase ‘doing more with less’ was used more often than it should be, maintenance and repair of infrastructure was often the first to suffer.”

Now that Canada has committed to historic levels of investment to reverse that trend, Waddell has joined PCL — Canada’s largest general contractor — as Deputy National Director, Defence and Federal Government Relations to help translate national ambition into on-the-ground delivery and future-ready security.

Keep reading this article on PCL.com

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