Artist's rendering of the new Ottawa Congress Centre (Image supplied)

A request for proposals for the $159 million redevelopment of the Ottawa Congress Centre is expected to be issued "imminently" after the project received funding commitments from all three levels of government.

City council is expected to give its final seal of approval to the project at next Wednesday's council meeting after Congress Centre officials agreed to meet the roughly 15 conditions councillors put on its $40 million commitment last November, said Ottawa Congress Centre board chairman Jim Durrell.

These conditions include securing a contribution from the federal government and a promise that the city would not be on the hook for any cost overruns, he added.

"All of those commitments, to our satisfaction, have been alleviated. We feel very confident at this time," said Mr. Durrell.

Standing beside Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien, Mr. Durrell made his comments following a press conference Wednesday morning at the Congress Centre, where Ontario Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca announced an additional $20 million grant, bringing the total provincial contribution to $50 million.

Mr. Durrell acknowledged the Congress Centre had expected the provincial tax dollars and said he had received a letter from federal Infrastructure Minister Lawrence Cannon, indicating the federal government had completed its due diligence and placed $50 million in an escrow account, matching the provincial contribution.

"There (are) still ongoing processes, but myself personally and the board are satisfied that (the) commitment is strong enough that we will be in a position very shortly to issue our RFP," said Mr. Durrell.

There are already 28 conventions committed to the redeveloped Congress Centre for 2011 and beyond with another 39 pending, according to the province.

Last month, Congress Centre officials said they hoped to have a construction consortium selected by July, with demolition of the existing building scheduled to start in September.