The city is countersuing the construction companies that built St. Lawrence Market North
It wants $8.3 million for delay damages and “outstanding deficiencies” after work fell three years behind
Last April, two construction companies sued the city, alleging that they weren’t paid more than $80 million owed for work completed on the St. Lawrence Market’s North building.
Now, the city says it’s actually the contractors who should be on the hook.
In 2019, a joint venture between Atlas Corporation and Buttcon Ltd. was awarded a $92-million city contract to build a five-storey glass and metal building that would replace an older structure that had been demolished. After delays, the new building finally opened to the public in 2025.
In a statement of defence reviewed by CBC, the city denied owing any funds to the construction companies, and argued the city should be paid $8 million for delay damages and “outstanding deficiencies.”
“It is evident that BAJV failed to properly supervise, manage and perform the work so as to conform with the contract time,” the statement of defence said, according to CBC.
The statement went on to reiterate that the construction companies were at fault for the delays, and that their plans were based on “inconsistent and faulty logic.”
According to the city, a “scheduling expert” needed to be hired to explain how to stay on track.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
