Fire Station #2 Redevelopment - 4595 Elk Lake Drive

Fire Station #2 will be located at the corner of Elk Lake Drive and Royal Oak Drive. The current building is well past its effective life and will be replaced with a new building. The entire site, recently consolidated from three District properties including a portion of Viewmont Ave., extends to the east near the highway and will also include the District’s fire training centre.

Updates and information

Residents, neighbours, and passers-by to the Fire Station No. 2 at 4595 Elk Lake Drive will have begun to see exciting changes to the site in the past five months. These changes reflect the beginning of a multi-year construction period and the fulfillment of the District’s capital investment priority to public safety in the Royal Oak Community with the construction of a new Fire Station. 

Construction Update - November 2025

The construction project contractor, Knappett Projects Incorporated (KPI), mobilized on site from November 2023 to May 2024.

As a portion of the existing fire hall required removal to enable foundation construction for the new building, a two storey temporary staff accommodation structure was installed. To reduce additional waste, when the project completes in late summer 2026, this structure will be moved to Fire Station #3.

Over the past 17 months, since building construction began with excavation for the foundation, the following milestones have been reached:

  • Structural elements; concrete foundation, concrete stairwells, steel superstructure and mass timber floor and roof panels have been installed.
  • 50% completion of building envelope elements of walls and interior framing
  • Completion of roof assembly for water tightness

Upcoming project milestones include:

  • Offsite civil works installations and utility connections.
    • The District will update residents in the coming weeks with a detailed schedule for these works.
  • Building envelope completion; windows and doors, by the end of Q1 2026
  • Interior installations of equipment and finishes by Q2 2026
  • Commissioning and staff move-in through Q3 2026
  • Finished landscaping on site including public pathway, public art installation, late summer, early fall 2026
  • Contractor site de-mobilization, public opening event planned for Q4 2026.

Project Information

The new version of Fire Station #2 will be 23,476 square feet, up from 3,800, and accommodate up to 10 fire fighters, rather than the current 5, and 8 vehicles rather than the current 2. A fire fighter training facility will be part of the development. 
The building will be built to very high energy performance standards (net zero carbon building, LEED Gold and Energy Step Code level 2) and constructed of mass timber.

The approved project budget is $44.6 million.

How will this improve Saanich?

The provision of emergency services - fire suppression and emergency response - will be greatly improved with a facility that more properly stores Fire Department apparatus (much of the fleet currently is not stored according to standards). The increase of staff complement for future growth anticipates the needs of residents and visitors in the growing northern areas of the District. Additionally, the facility will play a significant role in helping Saanich achieve its 2050 reduction targets.

Need more information?

Please contact fireadmin@saanich.ca.