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ARTICLE · 08 JULY 2026

Financing Projects Delivered Through Collaborative Delivery Models Reconciling Collaboration With Bankability

Gowling WLG
Gowling WLG
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Gowling WLG

Gowling WLG

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Alliance and IPD contracts present unique challenges for project finance lenders, as their collaborative structures—shared risk, integrated teams, and consensus governance—create tensions with traditional enforcement mechanisms. This analysis examines practical structuring responses that can bridge the gap between collaborative delivery models and bankable financing, offering calibrated solutions to address infrastructure investment demands in Canada and globally.

CanadaFinance and Banking

With contributions from Joey Suri, Project and Infrastructure Partner, Gowling WLG

Conclusion

Alliance and IPD will arguably never mirror the step-in and enforcement profile of a fixed-price EPC, and the features that make alliances effective (i.e. shared risk, integrated teams, unanimous governance, "no blame" culture) create specific challenges for lender enforcement. Contributions within integrated teams are difficult to sever; consensus governance may be incompatible with unilateral lender action; enforcement rights may sit uneasily with "no blame" principles; and attribution of default is challenging under shared-risk models. But for each core tension there are structuring responses that can materially narrow the gap. Fixed-price certainty can be achieved by deferring financial close until a firm price is established, as in the Progressive P3. Pooled risk can be buffered through enhanced equity commitments and layered cost overrun facilities. Impaired step-in can be managed

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