Denis Lebel - TheEconomic Review

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CANADIAN EDITION

VOL. 1 • OCTOBER 2015

ReBUILD CANADA

Masters of public infrastructure

OCTOBER 15 VOL 1 • ISSUE 3

EVOLUTION

BUSINESSMEDIA I nspi re d by E c onom ic Growth

D ENNIS LEBE L

ReBUILD CANADA

W

e all know that investments in modern and efficient public infrastructure across Canada create jobs, promote economic growth and provide a high quality of life for all Canadians and their families. This is exactly why the Harper Government is delivering for Canadians now.

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Our Government’s commitment to infrastructure represents $80 billion over the next decade. No other federal government has made these levels of investment in the history of our country.

Our infrastructure programs are designed to meet the needs of municipalities, provinces, and territories - who own 95 per cent of all public infrastructure in Canada - while achieving the best value

for taxpayers’ dollars. That is why all three levels of government, and the private sector, have a role to play in supporting public infrastructure.

Since 2006, Canada has consistently led G7 countries in infrastructure funding as a rate of GDP as we have made unprecedented investments in infrastructure across the country. In 2007, we announced $33 billion in stable,

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flexible and predictable funding through the Building Canada Plan. This Plan has provided – and continues to provide – funding to support modern, efficient, and important projects in communities from coast to coast.

Building on these historic investments, we introduced the $53-billion New Building Canada Plan, which is the largest and longest infrastructure plan in our nation’s

history. The New Building Canada Plan continues to focus on supporting projects that enhance job creation, economic growth, and productivity.

Stable funding for infrastructure is crucial for community planning, development, and sustainability.

The New Building Canada Plan allows our municipalities, provinces, and territories to rely on long-term funding that will sup-

port their plans for infrastructure projects over the years to come.

The New Building Canada Plan is made up of several components: • The $32-billion Community Improvement Fund, which consists of the incremental Goods and Services Tax Rebate for Municipalities and the indexed and renewed federal Gas Tax Fund; • The $14-billion New Building Canada Fund, which consists of:

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o The $4-billion National Infrastructure Component, which will support projects of national significance; and o The $10-billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component, which will support projects of national, regional and local significance.

• Of this amount, $1 billion is dedicated to projects in communities with a population of fewer than 100,000 residents.

• An additional $1.25 billion in funding for the Public-Private Partnerships Canada Fund, administered by PPP Canada; and • $6 billion in funding that continues to flow across the country this year and beyond under existing infrastructure programs.

To date under the New Building Canada Fund, projects represent-

ing over $7 billion in total estimated projects costs have been announced in every region across the country.

National Infrastructure Component (NIC) The National Infrastructure Component is providing funding to projects across the country on the basis of merit. Proposals are submitted directly to Infrastructure Canada and must support one or more of the following federal objectives: • Generate positive economic activity; • Reduce potential economic disruptions or foregone economic activity; • Generate productivity gains for the Canadian economy; or, • Provide benefits that extend beyond the provinces or territo-

ries where the project would be located.

Infrastructure Canada is currently accepting completed business cases for projects within all seven eligible categories under NIC, which include highways and major roads, public transit, rail infrastructure, local and regional airports, port infrastructure, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), and disaster mitigation infrastructure.

Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component (PTIC) The Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component is an allocation-based program that recognizes and supports the role that provinces, territories, and municipalities play in helping to build Canada’s public infrastructure. Two funds make up this component.

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First, the $9-billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component – National and Regional Projects supports medium- to large-scale infrastructure projects across 14 categories of investment that encourage job creation and economic growth. Second, the $1-billion Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component – Small Communities Fund which supports projects that deliver on local needs in smaller communities, in the same 14 categories of investment.

Public Private Partnerships: delivering public infrastructure on time and on budget To ensure the best value for taxpayer dollars, projects submitted to the New Building Canada Fund (i.e., the Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component and the National Infrastructure

determine that a project could be viable as a P3, and that such an approach would generate value-for-money, the federal contribution through the New Building Canada Fund will be conditional on the project being delivered as a P3.

PPP Canada will streamline the P3 screen process for projects from provinces and territories that have extensive experience with P3 projects and have their own screening process in place.

In these cases, PPP Canada will review the assessment to ensure it meets the department’s requirements and was done in an acceptable manner according to generally-accepted practices for this type of procurement.

If at any time during the P3 Screen, the project is found not to

Federal Gas Tax Fund: close to $22 billion for municipalities over 10 years Since its inception, the federal Gas Tax Fund has offered a flexible approach to infrastructure financing, allowing municipalities to choose and plan their own infrastructure priorities. With over $13 billion in funding already invested to support local infrastructure across the country, the federal Gas Tax Fund is a key element of the Government of Canada’s suite of infrastructure programs.

The renewed and indexed federal Gas Tax Fund continues to provide support to Canada’s municipalities through predictable funding and now an additional 11 new eligible funding categories, including disaster mitigation, recreation, tourism, and culture.

Component) with total eligible costs of more than $100 million are required to undergo a P3 screen, which is administered by PPP Canada.

P3 infrastructure projects in Canada have a solid track record of being delivered on time and on budget, and the private sector has an important role to play in building modern infrastructure. Should the P3 screen

be viable for P3 procurement, or the P3 procurement approaches would not deliver the best valuefor-money, the project may be still considered for federal funding under the New Building Canada Fund using traditional procurement approaches. In such cases, funding from the New Building Canada Fund would not be conditional on the project being delivered as a P3.

The addition of these new eligible funding categories is a recent improvement our Government has made to this Fund. As well, the Fund has been extended, doubled from $1 billion to $2 billion annually, and legislated as a permanent source of federal infrastructure funding for municipalities.

Under the renewed federal Gas Tax Fund, provinces and territories are committing to taking concrete

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steps toward improving asset management within their jurisdictions. Our Government is committed to long-term planning for infrastructure and encourages all jurisdictions to undertake life-cycle cost assessments and develop asset management plans. Longterm planning is important to ensuring that Canada has worldclass sustainable infrastructure.

As well, the Gas Tax Fund’s Capacity Building category can be used to fund municipal asset management plans and life-cyclecosting exercises. We are continuing to look at ways to encourage asset management through the other funds in the New Building Canada Plan.

New Champlain Bridge On June 19, 2015, I launched of one of the largest construction sites in North America.

While there’s not much to see right now, work has started on the $4.239B New Champlain Bridge Corridor Project. Construction crews are working

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on a dike in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River, boring and concreting test piles as well as preparing to build a 240,000 cu.m construction berm that will serve as a working platform for the prefabrication of the bridge piers, and the assembly of the deck sections. Later this summer, construction of a second berm will facilitate the building of the main tower adjacent to the Seaway. Through the summer and fall of 2015, preparatory works in the river will continue with major construction scheduled to start at the beginning of the 2016 construction season.

The new Champlain Bridge is the centerpiece of the seven km long corridor project, which also encompasses highway widening and replacement of 15 other structures. Among these is a 468m long low level bridge connecting Ile-des-Soeurs to the island of Montréal, which is a major bridge structure in its own right. Still, the 3.4km long

bridge over the main stretch of the river steals the limelight. The new bridge will sweep across the river in a graceful curve with the high point of the profile being a 240m main span cable-stayed bridge crossing the St Lawrence Seaway, an international shipping channel that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The new bridge carries three separate transportation corridors, each supported on its own steel boxgirder superstructure. The north and south corridors are threelane highways with inner and outer shoulders. The north corridor also includes a 3.5m clear width shared-use path to provide a new route across the river for pedestrians and cyclists. The central transit corridor will initially provide reserved bus lanes but the bridge will be built to allow it to be converted to a light rail system in the future as Montréal’s transit system expands.

Since announcing in October 2011, that the Champlain Bridge

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would be replaced by a new crossing, we have been hard at work to ensure that this, one of the busiest crossings in Canada and a crucial corridor for the regional economy and for Canada as a whole, will achieve the objectives we set out for it: Ensure Continued Safety and Service •Remove traffic from the existing Champlain Bridge by the end of 2018; •Maintain safety of the corridor prior, during and after construction; and, •Deliver a long-term solution that efficiently meets pre-defined operational and maintenance service requirements.

Promote Economic Growth •Improve system connectivity to promote the continuous and safe flow of people and goods; •Strengthen the economy through job creation and the improvement of the local, regional and national gross domestic product; and •Promote economic growth by

strengthening Canada’s continental gateway.

Provide Value for Money for Canadians •Provide long lasting infrastructure that meets high technical standards as well as the needs of users; •Obtain and maintain the required infrastructure at the sought-after quality level and at the lowest life cycle cost possible; and •Be consistent with the Government of Canada’s vision of an appropriate risk transfer to the Private Partner for financing, design, construction, maintenance and operations of the Project.

Foster Sustainable Development and Urban Integration •Deliver a project that is shaped by the consideration of its environmental and social context; •Plan and construct a project that protects the surrounding natural environment through rigorous environmental monitoring and mitigation measures;

•Build a bridge which contributes to the corridor’s status as the premier gateway to Montréal through its architectural features and quality that complement Montréal’s landscape; and •Promote sustainable transportation by building a dedicated public transit corridor and providing for a safe and accessible multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists.

The project is one of the largest infrastructure projects in North America. Through a public-private partnership (P3), our Government will deliver a world-class project on time and in a manner that ensures the best value for Canadian taxpayers. The project will create thousands of jobs and have a positive impact on the local, regional and national economies.

For more information on the New Building Canada Plan and the New Champlain Bridge, I encourage you to visit the Infrastructure Canada Web page at www.infrastructure.gc.ca.

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