City’s first construction officer quits 15 months into job

The City of Winnipeg’s first chief construction officer is leaving his position, which was created to add oversight to major projects. Tom Sparrow’s final day will be July 31, about [...]

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After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks. The City of Winnipeg’s first chief construction officer is leaving his position, which was created to add oversight to major projects. Tom Sparrow’s final day will be July 31, about 15 months after he started.

Mayor Scott Gillingham introduced the creation of a chief construction officer as a 2022 campaign pledge. At the time, he said the role would provide expert advice to council and help ensure the city attracts competitive bids for infrastructure projects, including the $3.1-billion upgrade to the North End sewage treatment plant on Main Street. On Friday, Gillingham said Sparrow proved the value of the role during his time with the city.

“We’re the first city in Canada to introduce a chief construction officer and Mr. Sparrow made great progress for the City of Winnipeg in the time that he was here,” said Gillingham. “His work and assistance on the budget for the North End sewage treatment plant was really invaluable. He also helped the city begin to move towards piloting some standardized projects (to match) industry standard across Canada.”

The mayor said Sparrow left for “personal reasons.” He did not provide further detail. “It really would have been ideal to have Mr. Sparrow stay because I really have deep appreciation and respect for his work and his expertise,” said Gillingham.

If he’s re-elected in the fall, Gillingham said he would like to fill the position as soon as possible. Sparrow started the job on April 1, 2025. In an email to city council members Friday, chief administrative officer Joseph Dunford recommends council take steps to recruit a new chief construction officer after the Oct. 28 municipal election.

“In the meantime, major projects will continue to be guided by the procurement and project management practices that have been strengthened over the past number of years,” wrote Dunford. “Please join me in extending our sincere thanks to Tom for his service and wishing him all the best as he returns to Alberta and his family.” The CAO also credited Sparrow for helping to improve city oversight.

“Since joining the city, Tom has demonstrated a real commitment to improving our processes, building on recent efforts we have made to strengthen oversight, accountability and value-for-money on major capital projects,” wrote Dunford. A request to interview Sparrow was not granted. The chief construction officer testified at a public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project in April, where he expressed concerns that the city publicly shares too much financial detail on its major projects.

“We’re actually playing poker with an open deck ... I’ve never, in my lifetime, ever seen projects delivered this way. It’s very frustrating,” said Sparrow, at the time.

He said some finer financial details the city releases could interfere with its contract negotiations. The headquarters inquiry explored extensive problems with the construction project at 245 Smith St. and is set to recommend steps to help ensure similar mistakes are not repeated. Initially expected to cost $135 million, the headquarters price soared to $214 million, when flood damage and some late security upgrades are included.

Gillingham said Sparrow’s departure was not related to concerns he shared at the inquiry. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca X: @joyanne_pursaga Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press.

A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne. Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism.

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