Niagara Construction News staff writer
Construction has officially started on an emergency department expansion at Hamilton General Hospital, a project backed by a $25-million from the province.
Chart Construction has been awarded the construction contract.
The project will add about 8,500 sq. ft. to the hospital, which treats more than 50,000 emergency patients annually. Construction is expected to be completed by 2030.
The redevelopment will include a larger ambulance off-loading area, a new triage, rapid assessment and observation area, and renovations to existing emergency department space. Hospital officials say the upgrades are intended to improve patient flow, reduce wait times and enhance the overall delivery of emergency care.
Planned improvements also include an upgraded resuscitation area for critically ill patients, additional treatment rooms, expanded nursing stations and staff work areas, improved patient navigation between hospital services, enhanced sightlines across care areas and new airborne isolation rooms to strengthen infection prevention and control.
Hamilton General Hospital serves as the regional trauma centre for approximately 2.5 million people across Hamilton and surrounding communities. The hospital also provides specialized cardiac, vascular, neurosurgical, stroke, trauma and burn care.
The emergency department expansion is part of Ontario’s broader hospital infrastructure program. The province says it plans to invest approximately $64 billion over the next decade in more than 50 major hospital projects, creating about 3,000 new hospital beds across Ontario.
In addition to major capital projects, the province is investing more than $281 million in 2026-27 through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund to support repairs and upgrades at hospitals and community health-care facilities. Hamilton Health Sciences is receiving $8.2 million through the program this year to address critical infrastructure needs across its hospital network.
The groundbreaking follows the opening of the new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby in late 2025, another major health-care infrastructure project completed in the Hamilton-Niagara region.
