News

New state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly building unites 300 TELUS employees in Ottawa.

Ottawa, Ontario – TELUS today broke ground at 215 Slater Street, bringing its “Future Friendly®” brand to downtown Ottawa. This state-of-the-art ‘green’ building will bring together some 300 TELUS employees, currently located in various locations across the city, in a building that is good for the environment, celebrates innovation and inspires business growth in the Ottawa community.

The TELUS Building, on the north east corner of Bank and Slater, will have approximately 105,000 square feet of office space in the eight-storey office tower that will have two floors of underground parking, an exercise area, a conference facility, 2nd floor and roof top terraces, and an Innovation Centre. The ground floor will feature retail space fronting onto both Bank and Slater Streets. In 2007, this building will be home to the 300 TELUS employees who draw their livelihoods from TELUS’ business in Ottawa.

TELUS is anchoring down deep roots in the national capital region and the new building is the latest step in that process. With the launch last fall of the TELUS Ottawa Community Board, a new philanthropic program through which TELUS donates $500,000 each year to local charitable organizations for initiatives that help to build a stronger community, TELUS has already taken on a leadership role in community investment.

“This groundbreaking ceremony marks something more fundamental than a construction project,” said Janet Yale, TELUS Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs. “Today’s event is a tangible demonstration of TELUS’ determination to lay deep roots here in Ottawa. In business and in the community, Ottawa is a highly valued growth market that we intend to serve for the long term, a place where we can make a difference in a community in which we live, work and serve.”

Designed as a ‘green building’, the new TELUS Ottawa location will be LEED® (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) certified at the Silver level.

“It is TELUS’ innovative commitment to social and environmental imperatives that will truly set this workplace apart,” said Andrea Goertz, TELUS Vice President, Enterprise Services. “It will be a healthy place to work. It will harness new technologies to better meet our environmental responsibilities. Materials will be reduced and re-used. Its operation will be fuelled with energy-efficient systems – such as the very latest in heating, ventilation and cooling techniques. This building will soon be a very visible sign of TELUS’ focus on its people and our deep commitment to our brand.”

LEED® recognizes leading edge buildings that incorporate design, construction and operational practices that combine healthy, high-quality and high-performance advantages with reduced environmental impacts.

Broccolini Construction Inc. is leading the construction project.

“Pride, passion and tradition have made Broccolini one of the premier builder/developers in Montreal, and very soon in Ottawa,” said Anthony Broccolini, project coordinator, Broccolini Construction Inc. “Another key to Broccolini’s success is our desire to not only build great buildings, but also great relationships. Broccolini’s inaugural project in the greater Ottawa market will be the TELUS building and I look to it as a spring board to a relationship between our companies, and the Ottawa community, that will run very deep and create abundance for all.”

TELUS’ community involvement in Ottawa also includes major funding for youth initiatives such as the National Arts Centre’s National Youth and Education Trust, and a variety of local organizations including the Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, the Great Canadian Theatre Company, the School of Dance, the School of Speech and Drama, the Ottawa Art Gallery, Third Wall Theatre, Junior Achievement, CHEO, the Ottawa Hospital Foundation, the Somali Youth Basketball League, the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association, the Eastern Ontario Soccer Association and the Waban Centre for Aboriginal Health.

About Broccolini Construction Inc.
Broccolini Construction Inc., founded in 1949, is now in its third generation of providing leading and innovative construction services to their customers that include general contracting, design-build & turn-key, construction management and real estate & Development. Broccolini’s success rests on its founding principles that have been cultivated over the past five decades: honesty, pride, integrity, collaboration and diligence. “The sky is the limit” defines the spirit and feeling of the entire team at Broccolini Construction. We look forward to building strong relationships and the finest buildings throughout Canada well into the 21st century.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $8.2 billion of annual revenue and 10.3 million customer connections including 4.6 million wireless subscribers, 4.7 million wireline network access lines and 1.0 million Internet subscribers. The company’s strategic intent is to unleash the power of the Internet to deliver the best solutions to Canadians at home, in the workplace and on the move. TELUS provides customers with a wide range of wireline and wireless communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video services. For more information about TELUS, please visit http://www.telus.com.