$200M secured for UdeM science complex project

Key Takeaways:

• The federal and Quebec governments are investing over $200 million—including $111 million from the province—to build Phase II of the Université de Montréal Science Complex.
• The expansion will construct two buildings on the MIL Campus to centralize the natural sciences, data science, and the Courtois Institute into a unified research hub.
• Engineered to advance research in artificial intelligence and materials science, the facility will accommodate 2,500 students and 300 academic staff members.

The Whole Story:

The governments of Canada and Quebec announced a combined investment of more than $200 million to fund Phase II of the Science Complex at the Université de Montréal (UdeM) campus. This joint venture represents the first major project under the newly established Canada-Quebec infrastructure partnership, with federal dollars flowing through the provincial and territorial streams of the Build Communities Strong Fund. Of the total funding package, the government of Quebec is directly contributing $111 million toward the construction costs.

The capital injection will support the construction of two state-of-the-art academic buildings adjacent to the existing Science Complex on the university’s MIL Campus. The project is designed to act as a centralized hub by integrating the natural sciences with data science and the specialized Courtois Institute, whose research operations were previously fragmented across multiple off-site facilities. The expansion aims to position the province as a global leader in materials science by combining advanced computing and artificial intelligence with physics and chemistry to pioneer the discovery of advanced materials.

Once completed, the new facility is expected to accommodate nearly 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students, alongside roughly 300 professors, researchers, and administrative staff members. The project is being executed in partnership with the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI). Additional financial backing for the expansion is being provided by the university itself, with the real estate and research assets of the Courtois Institute receiving substantial philanthropic funding from the Courtois Foundation.

“Our government is investing $111 million in Phase II of the Université de Montréal’s Science Complex to support the construction of new buildings, which will house the Courtois Institute,” said Eric Girard, Quebec’s Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for Infrastructure. Federal Parliamentary Secretary Rachel Bendayan noted that the investment in learning and research spaces directly supports the scientific leadership of the next generation, while UdeM Rector Daniel Jutras praised the collaboration, stating that the project successfully bridges public funding and private philanthropy to establish a world-class environment for fundamental research.