Ottawa's plan to turn surplus federal properties into housing includes a century-old military armoury plagued by mould, water damage and structural problems that was declared unsafe for occupancy years ago.Blacklock's Reporter says newly released records show the Department of National Defence identified 14 surplus properties as potentially suitable for housing development under the federal government's Federal Lands Initiative.Among them is the Colonel James Layton Ralston Armoury in Amherst, Nova Scotia, a building constructed in 1915 that failed a federal inspection in 2019.A 2025 report by the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre described extensive deterioration inside the building, including mould-covered ceilings, water damage and holes exposing the interior to the outdoors.“The ceiling of the building exhibited heavy mould growth and in several deteriorated sections the outside was clearly visible through numerous holes,” the report stated.Inspectors also discovered moisture problems around a staircase, standing water, a leaking roof and damage to the subfloor.“The building was deemed unfit for occupancy due to its deteriorating condition and as a result further inspections were considered unnecessary,” the report said.The building's deteriorating roof also posed a potential danger to anyone walking nearby.“Shingles were observed falling from the roof, posing a physical hazard to individuals below,” inspectors wrote. “This also raised concerns about the structural integrity of the roof.”Despite those findings, the Amherst armoury was included among surplus military properties identified as possible housing development sites.Other properties on the list included armouries in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Rimouski, Quebec, and Vernon, British Columbia..The properties were identified during a federal review of approximately 11,600 government buildings and Crown-owned properties conducted by the Department of Public Works.The review was intended to identify land and buildings that could potentially be converted or redeveloped for residential use.Francis Trudel, assistant deputy minister at Public Works, told the House of Commons government operations committee on October 6 that surplus federal properties could help address Canada's housing shortage.“There is an opportunity to make use of Canada’s surplus federal properties to directly support the immediate housing and other real property needs,” Trudel told MPs.The federal housing initiative was announced in 2024 by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, who promised to make greater use of vacant and underused government properties.“Right now governments across Canada are sitting on surplus, underused and vacant public lands like empty office towers or low rise buildings,” Trudeau said at the time.“There is great potential to build more housing.”Trudeau said the initiative would represent a major change in how Ottawa manages federal land.“We are making an historic shift in our approach to public lands that will unlock 250,000 new homes for Canadians by 2031,” he said.However, subsequent disclosures revealed that some federal properties being considered for housing included facilities with limited apparent residential potential, such as jail cells, cattle barns, lighthouses and boat sheds.The condition of Canada's military infrastructure has also raised concerns about the cost of maintaining and redeveloping older federal buildings.A 2024 Department of National Defence audit found much of the military's infrastructure dated back to the 1970s and required substantial repairs.“Approximately 25% of existing infrastructure is greater than 50 years old and requires significant maintenance, repair and recapitalization to ensure it remains serviceable and compliant with health, safety and environment regulations,” stated the Audit Of Defence Infrastructure.The findings raise questions about how much work and money would be required to make some of the surplus properties suitable for residential development.The records do not establish whether the Amherst armoury would be renovated, demolished or redeveloped, or whether any housing construction is planned for the site.
