Real Property

Portfolio
Sustainable Buildings
Green Lease Initiatives
Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites
Heritage Conservation
Parliamentary Precinct
Good Neigbours
Payments in Lieu of Taxes
Alternative Forms of Delivery

As the common service provider for real property and office accommodation for the Government of Canada, the Real Property Branch provides strategic management of one of Canada's largest portfolios. The Branch coordinates the office accommodation needs of approximately 100 federal departments and agencies on a city, regional or national scale.

Portfolio

Stewardship of $7B worth of holdings, including national treasures
6.8M square metres of space (50.4% owned/45.6% leased)
2,100 leases at a cost of around $800M
381 Government of Canada buildings
Accommodation of about 241,000 public servants and parliamentarians in 1,872 locations across Canada

Sustainable Buildings

We use industry-developed and approved environmental assessment tools in the design, construction and management of our buildings.

Our inventory is now 34 percent more energy efficient and 24 per cent more greenhouse gas efficient than we were in 1990 — and that saves taxpayers about $19.2M per year.

We are committed to meeting the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) silver standard but will strive for gold standard for all new buildings, and have been recognized as a green leader for a number of assets within our existing portfolio, for example, in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.

Green Lease Initiatives

Our new "Green Leases" address key environmental standards such as: proper management of wastewater, indoor air quality, recycling, energy efficient lighting fixtures and greenhouse gas reduction.

Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites

We also look for ways to reintegrate contaminated and under-used properties into communities.

PWGSC works extensively with other departments to help them design effective plans to clean up their contaminated sites. Working in cooperation with the Province of Nova Scotia, we are now the federal lead on the project to clean up the Sydney Tar Ponds.

Heritage Conservation

Our expertise in the restoration of heritage assets has been recognized through Canada's most treasured structures, from the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa to the Canadian war memorials in Europe.

Parliamentary Precinct

In 2001, Cabinet and Treasury Board approved the Long Term Vision and Plan (LTVP) for the Parliamentary Precinct, a detailed blueprint for the renovations and new construction over the next 25 years that will meet accommodation requirements identified by the Senate, the House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.

Good Neigbours

As Canada's largest landlord, PWGSC affects communities across the country, with our Good Neighbour Policy emphasizing our goal of being a positive presence. When choosing locations for government offices, we consider such factors as access to public transit, infrastructure needs, and conserving or re-using buildings.

Payments in Lieu of Taxes

Through our Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, we distribute more than $460 million to some 500 municipalities and other real property taxing authorities each year. These statutory payments recognize the services the Government of Canada receives, and contributes to covering the cost of local government.

Alternative Forms of Delivery

Under the Alternative Forms of Delivery (AFD), PWGSC contracts out some property and project delivery management services using competitive processes. This allows us to focus on providing strategic real property advice and service management, while retaining custodial responsibility for buildings and direct accountability to customer departments. The reprocurement of this initiative is currently underway.

As part of its effort to maximize efficiencies, Real Property is currently undertaking a major renewal program that will modernize the way it conducts business and model itself after the "best in class" real property organizations in the world.