Office life | Fondaction’s head office gets a makeover

The Fondaction labor fund is taking advantage of the use of telework to undertake a complete overhaul of its head office, which has become cramped over the years.

Andre Dubuc
The Press

In strong growth for two years, the venture capital fund focused on sustainable development has chosen to stay near the city center and expand inland.

The contract of approximately 25 million was entrusted to the contractor Lanthier from the work of the architects Chevalier Morales.

“We went with the least expensive option among all the options we looked at, which is to grow from within,” explains Patrick Cabana, vice-president and chief financial officer, in an interview. It is not simply a project to develop our spaces, it is practically a new construction because everything has to be redone, roof, exterior and interior windows.

The 25 million investment will be amortized over 30 years. Even taking into account the annual operating costs, the option remains more economical, argues the chief financial officer, than renting in a downtown office tower, in a rental market that is nevertheless very favorable to tenants.

Created at the initiative of the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) in 1996, Fondaction offers Quebecers an RRSP benefiting from a 30% tax credit on the first $5,000 of contributions.

Note that the name CSN has given way to the more discreet logo of the central labor body, on Fondaction’s signature since 2017.

Located at 2175, boulevard De Maisonneuve Est, the building housing the head office was acquired by Fondaction in 2008, by exercising the purchase option provided for in the lease, which dated back to 2003.

The 4650 m building² (50,000 ft²) originally designed to accommodate 100 workers is completely redesigned to be able to accommodate, in this era of work in hybrid mode between home and office, a workforce of 230 people.

Not in office until 2023

The new layouts will let in a lot of light, a lot of clarity. Attention has been paid to the quality of the ambient air.

“These are spaces that are much more open where you share light,” says Cabana. It’s going to be an environment where you let down the walls. Before, it was more of a physical silo approach where the groups were separated. Now, people are going to work a little bit everywhere together, it promotes a lot of interactions between the different groups. »

The return of workers to the office is scheduled for April 2023.

We are closely monitoring the evolution of the market for the moment, replies Mr. Cabana regarding the return-to-work policy at Fondaction.

“We don’t have a fixed policy at the moment [concernant le nombre de jours de présence au bureau]. We told our employees that we would offer a lot of flexibility. We are really going to encourage listening to our employees. This is very much what is advocated by employers today. So we’re going to be flexible on that side and we’re challenging ourselves to find a way to attract our employees, to make them want to come back to places to exchange. »

With the collaboration of William Leclerc, The Press