Ontario Moving to Increase Innovation and Competition in Infrastructure Market

BERLIN — Ontario’s government is working for the people to make the province a leading destination for investment and job creation by increasing innovation and competition in its public-private partnership (P3) market. The proposed changes come following extensive discussions with market participants.

Today, Minister of Infrastructure Monte McNaughton spoke to attendees of the annual Infrastructure Investor Global Summit in Berlin, where he addressed Ontario’s efforts to attract more investment in the province’s infrastructure market.

“We want to attract investment and expertise from around the globe because we believe more opportunity for private-sector innovation and increased competition leads to value for taxpayers and provides the best performers with opportunities to prove their advantage,” said McNaughton. “For international companies looking to make a move to the province, we have a lot to offer in Ontario. Our cities and towns are great places to live and raise families.”

The province will initiate the following new measures to attract international investment from firms looking to participate in Ontario’s P3 market:

• Creating opportunities for more competition in P3s by accounting for international experience
• Open P3 projects to greater innovation by making output specifications less prescriptive and rebalancing the Infrastructure Ontario bid evaluation criteria to better reward design innovation.

McNaughton and his team spoke with more than 50 delegations over a 10-week period, including investors and lenders, technical and financial advisors, and construction and maintenance contractors.

“Our industry partners were extremely candid in letting us know what was working and what was not,” said McNaughton. “After months of listening, my ministry is moving to act, beginning today.”