INFRASTRUCTURE

YEAR IN REVIEW

Following a competitive process, on May 7, 2015, CBC/Radio-Canada rejected the proposal submitted for the redevelopment project of the Maison de Radio-Canada (MRC) as it did not meet the Corporation’s requirements. We then decided to examine new scenarios, including selling our facility and moving into a new building on or off our existing site. To this end, we retained the services of a real estate brokerage firm to help us identify the full range of opportunities in the Montreal market. The first phase of the Request for Proposal process for the sale of CBC/Radio-Canada’s Montreal site and facilities ended on March 18, 2016. Over a dozen proposals were received. On May 18, 2016, the Board of Directors shortlisted two proposals for a new facility, both of which would see the public broadcaster’s Montreal home remain on a portion of the same site. Regarding the sale of the existing facility, the final phase of the process will continue with four proponents to maintain a high level of competition in the market and guarantee the best possible offer at the end of the process. The final choice of proposal, both for the new MRC and the sale of the existing facility,
is expected in fall 2016 and will need to be approved by the Treasury Board.

During the year, we announced we would be leasing 195,000 square feet of the Toronto Broadcast Centre as part of a multi-year deal. Our prospective tenant informed us in March that it had been unable to secure the necessary approvals on its end, making it impossible to move the deal forward. While disappointed, we will continue to search for potential tenants to occupy this unused space.

On June 25, 2015, we completed the sale of our mobile division to Dome Productions. The decision to exit the television mobile production business and sell off our associated assets reflects the Corporation’s strategy to reduce infrastructure.

Strategy 2020 performance metrics

 

⁽¹⁾ Our rentable square feet (RSF) results exclude: foreign offices (e.g., bureaus), transmission sites, parking lots and leases for the sole purpose of storage (i.e. no broadcasting activity).