The impact of American tariffs is in part the reason the Yukon government awarded a contract for the design and build of the French high school for a price more than $9 million higher than what it estimated about a year ago.

That’s according to a release issued earlier this week. It explained that Whitehorse-based company Ketza Construction was given the green light for the project, coming with a price-tag of just over $29 million.

Previous reports, like in the Star during November 2017, pegged the capital cost for the project at about $20 million, pending negotiations at that point.

That estimate was bumped up to $27.5 million, as reports from March 2018 show.

“The design-build contract is only one part of the entire school project,” a release issued earlier this week notes.

The entire project includes “design and construction contingency, project administration and associated costs.”

To be clear: the government did acknowledge that the construction bid is higher than the original estimates in the release, explaining that was because of in part an increase in material prices thanks to new U.S. tariffs.

It also cites a shortage of labour in the industry and a strong construction market as other factors.

It did not specify which earlier estimates it was referencing.

The exact cost awarded for the work on the school and community spaces is listed at $29.3 million ($29,357,080 to be exact, as mentioned in the release and confirmed on the government’s tender management system).

Construction work on the site is to begin in the spring of 2019 and be wrapped up during the winter of 2020-2021.

The substantial performance date as per the tender documents available is listed as Sept. 15 of 2020.

It is during that school year (2020-2021) that up to 150 students from Grades 7 through 12 will call the new site home after being moved from École Émilie-Tremblay.

Though it was initially expected to house 200 students, that figure was downgraded to 150 students and 25 staff. The government has since said those were very early estimates in a functional plan from 2016.

It’s something that will allow for flexibility, said Jean-Sebastian Blais, president of the Yukon Francophone School Board (CSFY).

“We know from,” he said this morning, that the “population will grow strongly in the coming years.

“I think the 150 capacity for that school, it’s enough for the first cohort,” he said.

If growth is severe or significant over the coming years, he said, there may be a need to address there as well.

But that could be a whole other ball game, he added.

“We’re not there yet,” Blais said, predicting that based on current enrolment numbers, the first cohort of students that would be heading into the new site could total about 110.

“For now, I think at 150, we can meet the demand,” though he predicted that “shortly” there may be need for more space. That could mean years, but it was too early to say definitively at this point before the school’s opening.

Blais also acknowledged that the surge in tariffs “has an impact” on the overall bid, but suggested the government would be best-suited to provide details on that.

For their part, the Department of Highways and Public Works and Education were unable to respond to the Star’s inquiries.

Blais remained happy, though, that the federal government had given a $7.5-million nod to the project through its Minority Language Education program for the school’s community spaces.

Part of those spaces will include a larger foyer that will allow different gatherings and shows to be held by different groups.

The community will be able to “organize community dinners, different banquets, and music groups would be able to use those assets,” Blais added.

All those may have also led to an increase in the quote, he said. “It’s not only a high school, it’s to be a community centre as well.

“The good news is that we will be able to share it with the larger community – the successes and the strengths and the accomplishments.”

Highways and Public Works Minister Richard Mostyn explained the government is proud to have seen the contract go to a local company. This resulted in “more government spending staying in the territory,” he said in the release.

His comments come just three months after YG took heat from the Yukon Chamber of Commerce and some local firms for its decision on a contract related to the school worth more than $900,000 to a Yellowknife-based architecture company.

That decision was shortly reversed, but only after an assistant deputy minister with the department had defended it – saying it was in efforts to encourage local firms to save out and apply for the larger design-build work.

Mostyn eventually vowed to award it to a local company and corrected some of the statements made by his department spokespeople – saying a mistake had been made.

Part of a revised version of that contract included helping in awarding the larger design and build contract for the entire school – which was awarded this week with its $29.3-million price-tag.

Blais wasn’t a complete stranger to what had happened just months ago: “I know procurement is very important; people are sensitive about it.”

Education Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee also added in the release that “education is critical to the vitality of our community.” She added she is pleased to be working with the federal government and the French board, as it shows a collaborative commitment.

There wasn’t always such a rosy picture when it came to getting the school off the ground though: a 2009 lawsuit by the Yukon Francophone School Board (CSFY) alleged that YG was not meeting its obligations as laid out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The government later committed to building the school, as a section of that charter protects minority language education rights.

The lawsuit added that the current French-language school (École Émilie-Tremblay) was not enough to make up for the growing enrolment.

The Department of education was unable to provide details about updated enrolment in time for today’s publication.

Meanwhile: the site’s Riverdale location means there is no shortage of schools in the neighbourhood. It already hosts five: Vanier Catholic Secondary, Selkirk, Grey Mountain Primary, F.H. Collins and Christ the King – something that raised concern by those who felt may lead to an increase in traffic.

The site had been chosen because it could help in saving construction costs and the school could use some of the existing equipment and infrastructure from nearby schools.

In the meantime, Blais also acknowledged stories he’s heard of other schools in the territory around overcrowding and increasing enrolment, referencing areas like Golden Horn Elementary School.

That school houses students in kindergarten to Grade 7 and was listed at 98 per cent capacity as of October, according to figures provided by cabinet.

The government is now looking for a portable for that school, but Blais said he is hopeful that the enrolment pressures on the new French-language high school will not be as severe right away.

He added he hopes the site will present the “right standards for public education in Canada.

“Any government that says we will build something” like the new school, “I think is something we’re pleased about. It’s not just a concept.

He added the board is “very grateful to have this announcement because it was time to build that school,” something he called a very big project.

By way of comparison: the government’s tender site shows three other companies bid on the project. They include Yellowknife-based Clark Builders with an amount of more than $33 million, and B.C.’s Yellowridge – the amount for which is unlisted.