Fortis Construction Group will lead construction of the facility. Its bid was $3.6 million below the estimated project cost.

While the overall economy shrank by 1.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, construction posted modest growth of 0.24 percent.

The city issued $2 billion worth of building permits for 2025 on October 8. That bested the benchmark set in 2023 by five days.

The agency said August’s decline mostly offsets a gain of 0.3 per cent in real GDP for July, which was revised a tick higher from earlier estimates.

The 25 initiatives include purchase agreements for a Quebec graphite mine and investments to scale up a rare earth elements refinery in Ontario.