Construction has begun on a new $50-million headquarters for Kawartha Lakes Paramedic Service in Lindsay, a long-awaited project intended to replace several aging facilities that were never designed for modern emergency-service needs.
City officials, current and former paramedics, municipal staff, and project partners gathered at 230 Angeline Street South on Tuesday (August 4) for remarks, a ceremonial ground-breaking, and a group photo.
According to a media release, completion of the purpose-built facility is now targeted for 2028. When the municipality announced last November that it had finalized a lease for the property, construction had been expected to begin in the spring of 2026 and be completed by the fall of 2027.
“It’s a really exciting day for our service and one that’s been a long time coming,” said Kawartha Lakes Paramedic Service chief Sara Johnston. “This project belongs to all of them. It reflects years of hard work, commitment and care for this community.”
“I’m incredibly proud of our team, and grateful that we are creating a space that will support them and the important work they do for many years to come.”
Paramedics are currently spread among several repurposed and aging buildings across Kawartha Lakes. Many have been operating from facilities originally intended for other municipal uses and temporarily adapted for paramedic operations after responsibility for the service was transferred to the municipality in 2002.
The new headquarters and fleet centre will consolidate seven of the service’s 11 existing facilities in one location, bringing together paramedic operations and response coordination, training, administration, fleet maintenance, logistics, and equipment storage.
The facility will include ambulance bays and indoor vehicle parking, providing a temperature-controlled environment for ambulances and temperature-sensitive medical supplies such as intravenous fluids. It will also provide paramedics with appropriate space for decontamination, infection prevention, and decompression following difficult calls.
The building will also house backup communications and critical municipal IT infrastructure, along with the Kawartha Lakes Police Service’s backup communications centre for 911 operations.
“This project gives us the room we desperately need to grow alongside our expanding community, ensuring our paramedics have a modern space that supports the critical work they do every day,” said Mike Locke, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 371 and a Kawartha Lakes paramedic for 20 years.
Locke described the headquarters as an important step towards establishing modern, independent, and purpose-built paramedic stations across Kawartha Lakes.
“This is a vital investment in the health and safety of our residents and an investment in the professionals who serve them,” he said. “We can’t wait to call this new facility home.”
Michelle Bell, a member of the project’s steering committee who has been a Kawartha Lakes paramedic since 2002, said the building will be “far more than bricks and mortar.”
“It will be our home,” Bell said. “It will be a place where we learn from one another, mentor future paramedics, and strengthen the bond that makes us a team. It will be a place where we gather before shift with purpose, and return knowing there is a space of our own to decompress, process difficult calls, support one another, and take care of each other.”
The city entered into a 25-year lease with Trillium Lakelands District School Board for the Angeline Street South property in September 2025. The property is also home to the board’s Lindsay Adult and Alternative Education Centre.
City council previously approved the investment in the headquarters and fleet centre, with Salter Pilon Architecture awarded the design and contract administration work in May 2023. Ball Construction is also a project partner.
The location was selected following an analysis of travel times, call distribution, and anticipated development conducted as part of the Kawartha Lakes Paramedic Service Master Plan and its subsequent update.
The consolidation is expected to improve operational efficiency and support the service as the municipality’s population and demand for emergency medical care continue to grow.
With files from Natalie Hamilton.
