GN plans new bidding process to run Ottawa medical boarding home

The Government of Nunavut plans to issue a new request for proposals for the operation of Larga Baffin, a boarding home for Inuit travelling to Ottawa for medical reasons.

The move is the latest in protracted negotiations between Larga Baffin Ltd., the facility’s current operator, and the territorial government, and could affect expansion plans for the facility.

Larga Baffin submitted a response to the GN’s initial request for proposals, which closed in May 2024, to operate the boarding home, but no contract was awarded, company president Malaya Zehr said in an Oct. 29 email to Nunatsiaq News.

The proposed contract was to run for 20 years, with two optional five-year renewal periods, for a potential total of 30 years.

The long-term agreement was intended to help a succe1ssful bidder secure financing to obtain or build a facility that met the capacity requirements, said former Nunavut health minister John Main two years ago in the legislative assembly.

For years Larga Baffin has been working through Ottawa’s municipal planning process to build a six-storey, 220-room facility at Hunt Club Road and Sieveright Avenue — about five kilometres northeast of the the Ottawa airport — that would accommodate up to 350 guests.

The existing facility on Richmond Road can hold 195 guests.

Larga Baffin bought the Hunt Club Road property in 2020. The project has gone through years of land-use planning work and in 2023 cleared an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, when a community group objected to city council’s official plan and zoning amendments.

In July 2025, the company told Nunatsiaq News it was ready to obtain debt financing for the project but needed a long-term agreement with the GN before proceeding.

In February, Larga Baffin’s board of directors decided to withdraw a building permit application it had filed with the city.

“Without the long-term contract contemplated in this [request for proposal], and without any level of certainty regarding the size of the facility required, it would have been impossible for us to access the capital required to complete the project,” Zehr said at the time. 

“We continue to wait for the Government of Nunavut to communicate next steps.”

The proposed expansion is an independent Larga Baffin project and is not receiving GN funding or investment support, Health Department spokesperson Charmaine Deogracias said in an email.

The GN plans to issue a new request for proposals for the services, but has not set a timeline.

The GN’s existing contract for a medical boarding facility with Larga Baffin, which is jointly owned by Nunasi Corp. and Qikiqtaaluk Corp., remains in effect until March 31, 2028, Deogracias said.

The department expects services to continue under that agreement and does not anticipate disruptions, she said.