Construction on Edmonton superlab halted with new UCP government

The United Conservative Party's win in last week's election means construction on the so-called Edmonton "super lab," which started last month, has been put on hold.

"To minimize costs incurred before a new government has the opportunity to review the lab-hub project, a decision has been made to pause construction," Jessica Johnson, director of communications for Alberta infrastructure, said in an email Monday.

UCP leader Jason Kenney vowed to cancel the lab project if he formed government. The UCP won 63 of 87 seats in the April 16 election and will be sworn into government at the end of the month.

The $590-million project, announced by the outgoing NDP government in 2016, would have consolidated lab services for Edmonton under a single roof and put it under the control of Alberta Health Services.

Construction on the site near the South Campus LRT station started in March. The lab was slated to be completed by 2022.

The government also planned to pay Dynalife, the current service provider, $50 million when its contract ended on March 31, 2022.

Kenney vowed to reverse that payment

He said a UCP government would talk to AHS, independent experts and the public service about how to provide lab services while keeping costs low.

Kenney said money for the project could be better used on patient care and hospitals. He told reporters the plan to put all lab services under AHS control was an ideological move by the NDP.