If you drive, walk or bike along Canada Avenue between Duncan and North Cowichan this fall, you are still in a construction zone. The Municipality of North Cowichan’s Canada Avenue Utility and Road Upgrades Phase 2 page lists the project as current, with a timeline of May 25, 2026, through spring 2027. The work covers Canada Avenue between Sherman Road and Beverly Street and is coordinated with the City of Duncan on its portion of the road.
A full closure remains in place between Philip Street and Sherman Road. North Cowichan’s roads and transportation advisories say that closure began Monday, July 13, and is expected to last until December 31, 2026, with local traffic only. The municipality says businesses along Canada Avenue stay open and accessible, using the northbound lane between Beverly Street and Philip Street. The Sherman Road roundabout remains open except for entering onto Canada Avenue. Detours run along Philip, Mary and Islay streets; the municipality asks drivers to allow extra time and to travel slowly through those residential streets.
The longer project is doing more than resurfacing. Official plans include replacing two aging bridges over branches of Bings Creek with large box culverts, improving the creek channel, and replacing sanitary mains and a City of Duncan water main that have reached the end of their useful life. The timing of the full closure, the municipality says, lined up with the provincial fisheries window so the bridge work could be done with less impact on the creek and fish habitat. Above ground, North Cowichan is narrowing driving lanes, lowering the speed limit to 40 km/h to match Duncan, building a wider sidewalk on the west side, and paving a missing link in the Friendship Trail on the east side between Philip Street and Sherman Road.
The project page says a federal Active Transportation grant is covering 60 per cent of eligible active-transportation components. Work is generally on weekdays, with occasional evenings and weekends. The contractor is Copcan Civil LP. Weather can pause work in winter. For day-to-day site questions the project page lists a contractor contact; residents can also reach North Cowichan Engineering or, on the Duncan side, the City’s Public Works and Engineering department. Full maps and updates are at northcowichan.ca/CanadaAve.
Good to know
- Canada Avenue is closed to through traffic between Philip Street and Sherman Road until December 31, 2026; local traffic only.
- Businesses remain accessible via the northbound lane between Beverly Street and Philip Street. Detours: Philip, Mary and Islay streets.
- Project details: North Cowichan’s Phase 2 project page.
Image: Screenshot of the Municipality of North Cowichan Canada Avenue Utility and Road Upgrades Phase 2 page.
Photo: Municipality of North Cowichan, Screenshot of official project page, via source.
