Public Comment Period on Intent to Make a Determination
Accommodations and Classroom Upgrades – Canadian Armed Forces Training Area (CAFTA) Cedar Springs

November 5, 2024 — The Department of National Defence must decide whether the proposed project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this decision, the Department of National Defence is inviting comments from the public on the project and its potential effects on the environment. All comments received will be considered public. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website.

Written comments must be submitted by November 14, 2024 to:
Julie Dalgard, Environmental Officer, 4th Canadian Division Support Base Petawawa Environment Services / Garrison Toronto
Mailing Address:  701 Oxford St E, London
Ontario, Canada, N5Y 4T7
E-mail:  Julie.Dalgard@forces.gc.ca

or

Rabi Gautam, Engineering Officer, Real Property Operations Unit
Mailing Address:  1 Yukon Lane, Toronto
Ontario, Canada, M3K 0K1
E-mail:  Rabi.Gautam@forces.gc.ca

The Proposed Project

The Department of National Defence (DND) proposes a project. The Canadian Armed Forces Training Area (CAFTA) Cedar Springs is an active training facility located on the edge of Lake Erie in Cedar Springs, Ontario. This range and training facility runs approximately 70 training events per year with the expectation that this number will increase in the coming years. As such, the existing CAFTA Cedar Springs accommodations and classroom buildings are lacking the infrastructure to support the expected increase in training events at this Site. DND intends to increase the available space for accommodation of personnel, both through renovation of the existing accommodations building and construction of a new accommodation building for further capacity, to be more consistent with the proposed future capabilities. The project will provide more classroom space to accommodate the anticipated larger numbers, ultimately increasing the capacity and availability of the range and training area (RTA) to Units.

Renovation of the existing accommodations facility will result in accommodations for up to 120 people, while construction of a new classroom facility is expected to accommodate up to 60 people. Additional project activities to take place will include pedestrian traffic control and road upgrades, fire alarm systems with integration between existing and new facilities, and the installation of a new septic tank system to replace the existing septic with new piping connected to infrastructure for the classroom and accommodations facilities.