ARTICLE · 08 AUGUST 2013

The Success Of P3 In Canada

Heenan Blaikie LLP

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Twenty years following the closing of the Confederation Bridge transaction, the public-private partnership model is now generally accepted throughout Canada and the pace at which such projects are announced, procured and delivered shows no signs of slowing down.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector

Lampros Stougiannos

Twenty years following the closing of the Confederation Bridge transaction, the public-private partnership (P3) model is now generally accepted throughout Canada and the pace at which such projects are announced, procured and delivered shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the Canadian P3 model is now widely regarded as a benchmark throughout the world.

The Confederation Bridge – widely-regarded as Canada's first true P3 – opened in 1997. The 13 km bridge spans the Northumberland Strait, a particularly harsh stretch of water separating Canada's province of Prince Edward Island and the mainland. At that time, Canadian P3 expertise was limited. Government authorities, financial advisers, legal experts and Canadian-based sponsors and developers were generally inexperienced with this manner of procuring major infrastructure projects, although they were well aware of how successfully the model was being deployed in the UK and Australia. Today, over 100 projects have

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