Canadian telco Telus has officially started work on redeveloping one of its Vancouver telephone exchanges into a residential development.

The company this week announced the official groundbreaking of a new Telus Living development in Vancouver’s Point Grey neighborhood in British Columbia.

Located at 2608 Tolmie Street, the former Point Grey telephone exchange will be redeveloped by Telus and its development partner, LPI Management Ltd., into a six-story mixed-use building featuring 55 purpose-built rental units and four retail spaces.

“We’re honoured to break ground on this transformative project as the Vancouver Point Grey community office redevelopment showcases what’s possible when all levels of government work together with the private sector to address housing needs,” said Manasweeta Bhatia, VP real estate and business continuity, Telus. “By repurposing our real estate assets right here in Vancouver, we’re making a meaningful difference in the community by turning technological progress into homes where families and individuals can thrive.”

Built in the 1960s, the previous building was a Telus Communications telephone exchange (aka Central Office) and part of the telco’s copper network. The site was decommissioned last year. News that the site was to become a residential development surfaced in September.

Telus was formed by the Alberta government as the Alberta Government Telephones in 1906. The company, since privatised and rebranded to Telus, acquired the British Columbia Telephone Company (BC Tel) in 1999. BC Tel could trace its roots back to 1904.

As with many incumbent telecoms firms, Telus is in the midst of shutting down its copper network to focus on fiber. The Telus Living project aims to develop a portfolio of mixed-use, purpose-built rental residential properties by repurposing the company’s underutilized properties, including a number of now-defunct telephone exchanges.

The company has two other Telus Living development projects in the works in Nanaimo and Sechelt, delivering 254 rental homes in early 2026.

Telus said a further 18 properties are proposed to add more than 3,000 homes across British Columbia over the next six years, with plans to expand the program to Alberta and Quebec.

The company has filed to develop several other projects at exchange sites around Vancouver and the Canadian city of Victoria in British Columbia. Several of these redevelopments include smaller telecommunications facilities on the ground floor that will use their waste heat to warm the new residential blocks.

Telus starts work on domestic subsea cable project

In other news, Telus has begun deploying a new domestic subsea cable in the St. Laurence River in Quebec.

The company last week announced it has started work on a new 125km (77.6 miles) submarine fiber optic cable that will run from Sept-Îles to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts.

Telus said the new route will provide redundancy to the telecommunications network serving the communities between Baie-Comeau and Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon – offering a backup route in the event of a failure on the main terrestrial network on Highway 138 between Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles.

“This deployment marks the culmination of several years of careful planning and represents a major technological turning point for the North Shore,” said Nazim Benhadid, Telus CTO. “By anchoring this fiber optic infrastructure on the seabed, we are creating a robust communications path that will ensure essential service continuity, especially during extreme weather conditions. Beyond the technology, this project will guarantee citizens reliable access to essential services, education, and healthcare. Investing in the resilience of our networks means investing in the future and prosperity of our communities and our country.”

Initially announced in 2020 and approved earlier this year, the cable laying should be completed within ten to 15 days, and the project should go live in the coming weeks.

“This project represents one of the most stimulating technical challenges our team has undertaken in Eastern Canada,” said Naoufal Nadir, Senior Project Manager at IT International Telecom. “We are deploying our expertise in submarine installation to create a robust link that will serve the North Shore communities for decades. Every metre of cable installed brings us closer to the goal of truly resilient connectivity for this strategic region.”