Building a Strong Ontario Together: Infrastructure Ontario’s Fall Market Update

December 5, 2023

The Empire Club of Canada Presents


Building a Strong Ontario Together: Infrastructure Ontario’s Fall Market Update

Chairman: Sal Rabbani, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada

Moderator
Kelly Jackson, Immediate Past President, and Board Director of the Empire Club of Canada

Distinguished Guest Speakers
Michael Lindsay, President and CEO, Infrastructure Ontario
The Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure for Ontario
Rob Berardi, Senior Vice-President Shared Services, Hydro One
Clint Thomas, Senior Manager, Government Relations & Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power

Head Table Guests
Victoria Mancinelli, Director Public Relations, Marketing, Strategic Partnerships, LiUNA
Riccardo Cosentino, SVP, Capital, Canada, AtkinsRéalis
Ken Tanenbaum, Vice Chairman, Kilmer Van Nostrand Co. Limited
Marsha Seca, President, Broad View Advisory Inc.
Jennifer Quinn, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Nieuport Aviation
Jenna Donelson, Executive Director, Government Relations, Queens University
Amarjot Sandhu, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure
The Honourable Sylvia Jones, Minister of Health for Ontario
Rick Byers, MPP for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound,
KarliFarrow, Chief Executive Officer, Trillium Health,
Barbara Carmona Venancio, Chief Representative Officer, Spanish Chamber of Commerce,
Sasayama Takuya, Consul-General of Japan,
David Lindsay, Board Chair, Infrastructure Ontario
LalWannaiappa, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, LARIC Capital

Introduction
It is a great honour for me to be here at the Empire Club of Canada today, which is arguably the most famous and historically relevant speaker’s podium to have ever existed in Canada. It has offered its podium to such international luminaries as Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Audrey Hepburn, the Dalai Lama, Indira Gandhi, and closer to home, from Pierre Trudeau to Justin Trudeau; literally generations of our great nation's leaders, alongside with those of the world's top international diplomats, heads of state, and business and thought leaders.

It is a real honour and distinct privilege to be invited to speak to the Empire Club of Canada, which has been welcoming international diplomats, leaders in business, and in science, and in politics. When they stand at that podium, they speak not only to the entire country, but they can speak to the entire world.

Welcome Address by Sal Rabbani, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Good afternoon. Welcome to the Empire Club of Canada, the go-to forum for conversations that matter, for 120 years now. My name is Sal Rabbani, and it's an honour to stand before our community, both in person and virtually, as Chair of the Board of Directors. Thank you for joining us. It's always a pleasure to have you here. We're here, we hope, to spark meaningful connections and inspire productive dialogue, by giving our audience access to this nation's diverse wealth of knowledge and leadership.

To formally begin this afternoon, I want to acknowledge that we are gathering today on the Traditional and Treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. We encourage everyone to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.

Today, we are hosting "Infrastructure Ontario's Fall Market Update." We have the honour to welcome The Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure of the Province of Ontario, as well as Michael Lindsay, President and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario. To moderate the conversation, we have our very own Kelly Jackson, Immediate Past President, and Board Director of the Empire Club of Canada. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for being with us.

From hospitals and healthcare infrastructure projects, to schools, highways, science centres, and transit expansion projects, there's an enormous amount of infrastructure activity in our province. Today, we will hear about progress that has been done, and what we should expect for the future, as we're facing a housing crisis like never before in Ontario and across Canada, that has implications across the board.

For us in Toronto, infrastructure is often synonymous with construction disruption for local businesses and traffic—lots of it. In fact, we oscillate between being the highest of all Canadian cities in the ranking of best cities in the world, and being one of the worst in North America when it comes to traffic and congestion. There are literally hundreds of projects in the works across the city.

Now, as one Torontonian put it on TV in an interview, "You know what? They kind of have to do it. Every time we wait, it costs more." And I tend to agree with that. Major infrastructure projects are transforming our city, and will have an impact for generations to come. And there are obviously hundreds of big, important projects across the province that we'll hear about in a minute. I'm also curious to see how the newly announced Infrastructure Bank will fit into the puzzle, to spur community development and encourage investor participation.

One more thing I want to bring up is the big, transformational element that adds an almost ultimate anthem to infrastructure projects in Ontario, and this is climate change. Climate change and its impacts could add between three and four billion each year to the existing cost of maintaining our province's public infrastructure. And this is for the rest of the century. This is the result of a recent report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario—which I believe is our province's financial watchdog—so, this will be the additional infrastructure invoice to mitigate the effect of climate change, as temperatures will continue to rise, cracking up our roads, and degrading building materials, while more extreme rainfall and snowfall events are going to put pressure on our overrun stormwater pipes. So, beyond new infrastructure, we're also looking at retrofitting the existing one to make it more climate resilient, and ensure we're building a stronger Ontario for the generations to come.

We accept questions from the audience for our speakers, and you can undertake to scan the QR code found on your program booklet. For those joining us online, if you require technical assistance, please start a conversation with our team using the chat button on the right-hand side of your viewer or through Q&A under the video player. Please engage in the conversation today. I encourage you all to do so, ask questions, and share your points of view.

The Empire Club is a not-for-profit organization, and we'd like to recognize our sponsors, who generously support the club, and make these events possible and complimentary for our online viewers to attend. Thank you to our Lead Event Sponsors, AtkinsRéalis, Bruce Power, and Hydro One. Thank you to our VIP Reception Sponsors, Kilmer Group, Nieuport Aviation, and LiUNA. Thank you to our Supporting Sponsors, Woodbine, and the Residential Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario. And lastly, thank you to our Season Sponsors, AWS Amazon Web Services, Bruce Power, and Hydro One. We're going to start off the afternoon with a message from our Lead Sponsor, AtkinsRéalis:

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I'd like to thank our supporters from AtkinsRéalis for that video. I'd now like to invite Clint Thomas, Senior Manager of Government Relations, and Corporate Affairs at Bruce Power, to introduce our guest speakers. Clint, welcome.

Opening Remarks by Clint Thomas, Senior Manager, Government Relations & Corporate Affairs, Bruce Power
Good afternoon, everyone. And it's a pleasure to be here on behalf of Bruce Power, the home to Canada's largest private-sector infrastructure project. Our Life Extension Program supports 22,000 direct and indirect jobs here in Ontario, and contributes $4 billion to the annual GDP in the province. We just completed the refurbishment of our Unit 6 on budget and ahead of schedule, and work on Unit 3 began earlier this year.

We are proud to be part of Ontario's infrastructure success story. Bruce Power is Canada's only private-sector nuclear operator, producing 30 percent of Ontario's electricity cleanly and emissions-free, along with life-saving medical isotopes that fight various cancers and sterilize medical equipment around the world.

Our site is located on Lake Huron, within the traditional lands of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, and we're committed to moving forward in the spirit of Reconciliation and respect with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, the Métis Nation of Ontario, and the Historic Saugeen Métis.

Earlier this year—you may have heard about this—the government's Powering Ontario's Growth Plan, which was released, and outlined pre-planning work to consider the option of adding up to 4,800 megawatts of nuclear capacity to our site. We have since commenced Indigenous and public engagements, and next year, we'll begin an RFI process to evaluate potential new nuclear technologies. We are busy, as you can see, and our guest speaker is, as well. And it's now my honour to formally welcome and introduce her.

Kinga Surma is the MPP for Etobicoke Centre. First elected to the Ontario legislature in 2018, she was named Associate Minister of Transportation in 2019, and then became Minister of Infrastructure in 2021. She came to Canada from Poland at the age of four, and understands the challenges newcomers to Canada face. She holds a degree in public policy, business, and commerce from the University of Guelph, as well as in public relations from what is now Metropolitan Toronto University.

Minister Surma, we look forward to your Fall Market Update today, and we want to say thank you to you and your government for providing the energy policy stability needed to allow companies like Bruce Power to make long-term investments to benefit Ontarians. So, please join me in welcoming the Honourable Kinga Surma.

The Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure for Ontario
Thank you, Clint, for that very kind introduction. Good afternoon, everyone. Before I get started, I want to thank Sal and the entire team at the Empire Club for hosting today's event. It's so nice to see so many familiar faces from across our great sector. Of course, I also want to thank to Michael Lindsay, the President and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario, for being here today, and Kelly Jackson, for volunteering to moderate our discussion later this afternoon. I also want to thank Ontario's Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, who is with us today. Minister Jones is leading our government's efforts to build more community health infrastructure for the people of this province. Additionally, I want to thank PA Rick Byers, who is with us today. He is such a hardworking Parliamentary Assistant, whose support has been vital in the work we do.

I'd like to thank Karli Farrow, CEO of Trillium Health, for being here, and for the incredible efforts you and the team at Trillium Health put in day in and day out, to ensure everyone has the support services and care they need, when they need them most. Barbara Carmona Venancio, Chief Representative Officer of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, is with us today. Spanish firms have played a significant role in building Ontario. They're currently involved in building the Grandview Children's Treatment Centre in Ajax, and helping expand the GO network. And finally, I want to thank Takuya Sasayama, Consul General of Japan in Toronto. The Japanese experience and expertise in developing transit-oriented communities will be vital, as Ontario pursues its vision for transit expansion in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. I think that's the end of introductions.

I can think of no better audience than a group of industry leaders, all under one roof, to discuss the work our government is doing to build Ontario, and how we can continue to work together. This morning, Infrastructure Ontario released its latest Market Update, which lists 31 major infrastructure projects in pre-procurement and active procurement, with an estimated value of more than $35 billion. This work behind this pipeline of projects demonstrates our government's drive and ability to bring critical infrastructure projects to life, by getting construction underway. It undergoes continuous changes as projects transition from the planning stages, to choosing firms, to delivering projects, and progressing to the construction phase. The pipeline is an indication of progress.

Since the last Market Update in March, three projects in Infrastructure Ontario's pipeline have advanced to construction. Projects like Highway 3 expansion, which will widen the roadway to four lanes for over 15 kilometres in Essex County. Through this expansion, we are getting people where they need to go faster, while also getting goods to market efficiently. Or the site preparation underway to rebuild Ontario Place, which once complete, will deliver over 50 acres of parks and public spaces, woven through three anchor attractions, [indiscernible] waterpark and wellness facility, a brand-new concert venue, and a brand-new Science Centre. Construction is also underway at the 1Door4Care Project, at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, CHEO, which will become a single, state-of-the-art, purpose-built site on CHEO's main Smith Road Campus, bringing care closer to home for families.

I am also pleased to announce that today's market update includes three new projects. These projects include taking the next steps in our vision to redevelop Ontario Place into a world-class year-round destination, and helping the Ontario Science Centre find its new home in a custom-built, state-of-the-art facility, while preserving the iconic Cinesphere and Pod Complex. Or our efforts to renovate and expand the existing Milton Courthouse, modernizing our justice system. We're also moving forward with creating the first new full-service operating park in 40 years. This project, at Big Wind Lake Provincial Park, will include development of infrastructure for four-season use, including camping and other overnight accommodation options, as well as facilities for increased recreational activities, such as swimming, hiking, cycling, paddling, and cross-country skiing. Located only 2.5 hours from Downtown Toronto, the park is a breathtaking Muskoka paradise, with beautiful lakes, meadows, marshes, and forests—and I have a suspicion that I will be enjoying that park.

Infrastructure Ontario's track record is one we should all be proud of. And their success has been critical in maintaining the confidence of taxpayers. Since the inception of its public-private partnership program almost 20 years ago, Infrastructure Ontario has brought 80 projects to substantial completion as of March 2023. Our government understands that Ontario's success depends on a healthy, competitive market, and our approach must be able to adapt to meet anticipated needs of the province's growing population. This flexibility is only possible through constant dialogue with our industry partners, sharing their insights and perspectives of the realities they face on the ground. But as we face new uncertainties, I know we can count on your partnership, innovative ideas, and the province's dedicated and skilled workforce to help us continue to build a stronger Ontario. Our government appreciates the work you do to help us build the critical infrastructure Ontario's growing communities need and deserve.

Infrastructure is the backbone of a strong and healthy economy; it is essential to the quality of life of all Ontarians, both today and in the future. As Ontario's Minister of Infrastructure, I'm proud to work shoulder-to-shoulder with a team delivering on our government's priority to build a stronger Ontario. We are moving forward with the province's most ambitious capital plan ever, by investing $185 billion over the next decade—including over $20 billion in years '23, '24 alone—to build schools, hospitals, long-term care homes, roads, highways, and public transit to support growing families, growing businesses, and growing communities across the province. We continue to make progress; we have expanded Highway 401 with 18 km of new lanes from Mississauga to Milton. The new multi-lane expansion will help fight gridlock, and keep goods and people moving across the greater Golden Horseshoe.

Through the Accelerated Build Pilot Program, three long-term care homes have been completed. Lakeridge Gardens was the first, delivered on March 3rd, 2022, in Ajax, after only 13 months of construction. Humber Meadows was completed on March 16th, 2023, while Wellbrook Place was completed on July 25th, 2023. Combined, these three new long-term care homes alone have added over 1,200 new beds for our most vulnerable. And I'm pleased to share that we have reached substantial completion of the new West Park Healthcare Centre located in West Toronto, which the Minister of Health had the opportunity to visit. Once opened, West Park will provide specialized rehabilitation and complex continuing care to help individuals manage difficult health challenges.

When it comes to transportation projects, we are undergoing the largest transit expansion in Canadian history through a historic investment that will see the subway network increased by 50 percent. This includes the Ontario Line, the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, and the Yonge North Subway Extension. Recently, we've taken another step forward to get shovels in the ground on the Yonge North Subway Extension, by issuing a request for proposals for the contract to design and build the subway tunnels. We are also building vibrant, complete, and mixed-use communities around GO Transit, Light Rail Transit, and subway stations across the GTA. As part of our Subways TOC program, our government recently announced plans to build approximately 5,900 new residential units near six future transit stations along the Ontario Line Subway and Scarborough Subway Extension. Overall, our government's TOC program will create over 79,000 new jobs, and approximately 54,000 new residential units. And that is just the beginning. By building transit where people live and work, we are increasing ridership, reducing gridlock, stimulating economic growth, increasing much-needed housing supply, lowering the cost of building infrastructure for taxpayers, and making life more convenient in our communities. We are also reducing gridlock by advancing highway projects. We are moving forward with the Bradford Bypass, a new four-lane highway to connect Highways 400 and 404. Once complete, the Bradford Bypass will save drivers an estimated 35 minutes in travel time.

Another example of our government's plan to building a stronger Ontario is nearly $4 billion in investment in high-speed internet access. Just this past August, our government, in partnership with Infrastructure Ontario, launched a new competitive process to find qualified satellite internet service providers to bring high-speed internet access to our hardest-to-reach places. The competitive process for satellite service is the first of its kind in Canada—and we're hoping for good results, Michael.

We are also building a convenient and connected healthcare system that puts people first. Construction is underway at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, a new, larger hospital on the property behind the existing facility, that will double the current operating room capacity. We're also moving forward with the procurement of projects such as the Quinte Health Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital's site redevelopment.

After these past few challenging years, Ontario has come so far. We never stopped building, and despite lingering challenges on the horizon, the path forward is clear. We must continue taking the next steps forward in our government's plan to build a stronger Ontario. Your continued willingness to create new approaches to address evolving market conditions are essential to Ontario's success. I want to thank all of you for helping us build this province. Together, we will continue to build Ontario. And now, I would like to invite my partner in crime, Michael Lindsay, to the podium to say a few words.

Michael Lindsay President & CEO, Infrastructure Ontario
Colleagues and friends. Happy Pipeline Day! Easily, for my money, one of the three best days in the calendar month of December, bar none. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today. I consider it a privilege to address all of you. I would echo the thanks of the Minister for all of the sponsors, to the Empire Club, to everybody that made this day possible. And Minister, if you'll permit me, on behalf of the board and the management team of Infrastructure Ontario, thank you for your leadership. Friends, you could not find somebody who's more thoughtful or more diligent about some of the very important, pressing, and often very confusing questions that we have to grapple with, as we try to deliver this incredibly ambitious capital plan on behalf of the government of Ontario. So, our thanks to you, Minister. And Minister Jones, our thanks to you, as well. Disproportionately, our pipeline continues to be in the health facility space, and your leadership, and the partnership that we have with your team, is deeply appreciated.

My friends, the Minister did a great job of conveying some of our success. And if you'll permit me, I just want to double down on that really quickly. Because she mentioned that we have successfully, since the inception of Infrastructure Ontario, delivered 80 projects to substantial completion. What she didn't mention is that 30 of those projects have reached substantial completion since 2020. We have collectively, together, delivered 11 healthcare facilities, 6 justice facilities—by the way, one of those substantial completions is for a set of 10 OPP detachments, so I could have said 16, quite easily—and 10 major transit and transportation projects. We did that together, in the teeth of a pandemic, and one of the most disruptive times in recent memory, when it comes to supply chains around the globe. Only we, I think, here in Ontario, given what we have built together, the kinds of conversations that we have, which are very candid, sometimes terse, but always very important, could I think boast that record of accomplishment. And if I leave you with nothing else, I want to leave you with a sense of our thanks for your partnership, for all that we continue to do.

By the way, the Minister also could have mentioned that right now, as we're announcing new transactions and new transaction timelines for projects, that we have $43 billion worth of projects under construction in the province of Ontario today. By any definition, one of the most ambitious capital plans, certainly in Canadian history, if not in world history, in recent memory. And we're very, very grateful that all of you in this room, whether you are advisers to us, or you are partners to us, are here to help us deliver it.

So, I just want to talk very, very quickly about a couple of promises that I made when I was last here, in October of last year. I told you that we were going to do four things, and I just want to check in on those things quickly. Then I want to make a few new commitments to you. So, number one, I said that you could count on IO and the Ministry of Infrastructure in the Government of Ontario to use a broader set of contract forms to deliver projects in this province. And together, we've done that. We're now in full flight, in respect of the progressive models that we're using to define some of the major hospital projects in jurisdictions like Mississauga, Ottawa, and Moosonee. We have adopted DB Target Price models for not only the Garden City Skyway, but also for portions of the Ontario Line contract, in the northern segment of that work—again, in direct response to market feedback. We're delivering Quinte Health on a design-bid-build basis, and we were quite gratified to see, actually, that six counterparties presented themselves to be qualified for that reasonably-sized hospital job. Ontario Place site servicing—Minister, I know something very near and dear to your heart—is being delivered on a construction manager at risk contract basis. And of course, as you will see in the pipeline, we still have many design-build-finance, and a few design-build-finance-maintain models that we think, ultimately, deliver real value for the people of Ontario.

Second, I told you that we were going to be increasingly sophisticated when it came to risk management, and I think we've met that test together. I know that in our commercially confidential meetings with counterparties, we've continued to discuss the effects of hyperinflation, supply chain discontinuity, and some of the risks that 20 years of shared experience, as between us, have revealed to be risks that we ultimately need a different approach to modeling, to providing contingencies for, and to sharing—I say that word unreservedly—in connection to our projects. One of the key examples being geotechnical risk on transit and transportation projects. We've also adopted mechanisms in our delivery model that I think have managed to create the right candid conversations between us, when it comes to some of the risks that we might face. On major hospital projects, the progressive phase of our interaction together is all about identifying risks and mitigating risks. And I think you can count on us to continue to use mechanisms, like affordability disclosures and schedule analysis, to try to get a better understanding of what you might know, and we need to be educated about, in respect of the cost of things, and the schedule associated with delivering them.

Third, I told you that we were going to double down on the lessons that we had learned, in respect of rapid procurement and modular build. And we've done that, too. Our requests for qualifying standing on offers process was recently used competitively, to source somebody who's doing one of the largest earthworks projects that I think this country has seen in the last 10 years, outside of St. Thomas—moving enough dirt to prepare for the VW electric battery plant to fill the SkyDome a couple of times over. And we're working with friends in the Justice sector [indiscernible] right now to think about how we build on the success of the rapid additions that we did in Kenora and Thunder Bay, in order to make sure that those facilities meet, appropriately, the dictates of the Supreme Court and its recent rulings on inmate sequestration. By any definition, in my view, a human rights project that we're very privileged to be a part of.

And finally, I promised you that all of our assets, we wanted them to be born digital. And again, I think we're meeting that commitment. The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, which the Minister referenced, is not only a place which consolidates services for very, very sick children in eastern Ontario, but the veins of that building are suffused with technology. It's built to allow for virtual care. And I think that is a model, increasingly, across all the health facilities that we deliver, that we're trying to really lean into. The new Toronto Courthouse—which some of you will see—equally, is all about not only a consolidation play to bring justice services to one place, but also to allow for the digitization of some of those sessions, those services, and to allow for the efficiency that comes with doing some things, as we've all discovered, down the lens of a Teams camera, as opposed to face-to-face.

So, keep me honest, keep us honest, if you can, right? Because these commitments, we mean them. And we need to mean them because we are met by your sophistication, and it is often you who educate us as to the real effect of the things that we are trying to do. So, I'll just leave you with, perhaps, three more commitments that we can check in on in a year's time.

Number one, I can promise you an even higher velocity of conversation about the appropriate models to use for projects. You will note in the Pipeline document today that there are more TBDs next to contract models than there tend to be on an IO Pipeline day. That's because we're actively listening right now, to try to understand what the best model would be, through market soundings, to deliver those projects. Again, our commitment is to work with you to pick the right tool for each one of these projects, on the basis of their innate characteristics.

Second, I can promise you that we collectively will continue to be attentive to total life-cycle cost, and the cost to maintain the assets that we're ultimately creating. Very, very important. We never want to lose sight of the notion that, in this jurisdiction, we did a very good job, I think, for a generation of projects, making sure that maintenance and life-cycle investment was provided for right at the time of contract creation. And as we use broader contract forms, we don't want to lose sight of what we unambiguously think is very good public policy—provisioning for maintenance at the time of asset creation.

And third, you can count on us to continue to focus on making sure that our assets are resilient, that they're efficient, that they're accessible, they're built to last in a changing world, as Sal said. And whether it's LEED Certification for our hospital projects, or it's Rick Hansen Certification on an accessibility basis for the new Toronto Courthouse, or it's just working with ministry and government partners to ask first-order questions about underlying project specifications that go with climate resilience. This will be a big focus, I think, for all of us, in the years ahead. Because when people look back and they tell the story of this four-year period, everybody will understand, I think, the inflation that we live through in the moment, everybody will understand the supply chain discontinuity that we live through. They won't understand if we don't build assets that last. That's our shared task. So, again, my deep, deep thanks for your partnership. Happy Pipeline Day to all of you. And now, I'd love to get into, with the Minister, your questions. Thank you very much.

Kelly Jackson
Okay, just checking the mic.

Michael Lindsay
Yeah.

Kelly Jackson
Well, it's great to see such a full house—I guess it really is one of the most important days in December. And welcome to all those who are tuning in online. As Sal mentioned earlier, if you're in the room and you'd like to pose a question to either the Minister or Mr. Lindsay, please feel free to scan the QR code that you can find in your pamphlet. And for those who are watching online, you should see underneath your viewer a Q&A box where you can insert questions. And I've already seen some questions coming in. So, I know we've got a very engaged audience.

Thank you so much for both for being here today. I'm sure there's a few people in the room who think, why am I moderating this? Because I'm not from the sector. And the really interesting thing for me is that, as a Past President of the club, I had the opportunity to sit down last year with you and do this Fall Market Update, and the year previous, which was all virtual.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
It's becoming an annual tradition.

Michael Lindsay
That's right. Yeah.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
In fact, Sal was trying to pitch the idea of having the P3 Market Update here every single year, with you as a host.

Kelly Jackson
Okay, well, let's just go with three times' the charm. Hopefully, we'll get into a good conversation. But the one thing that has struck me, as somebody who works in the broader public sector, who's worked previously in government, and observing, you know, the level of activity that has been underway—you talked about this four-year period—this is the third time I've had the chance to really sit down and be a part of this market update, is just incredible, the level of activity, the level of investment. Minister, you shared a number of new projects, you also shared a number of key projects that are underway. We saw those numbers here in the room, you know, 31 projects, $35 billion. It'd be great just, I think, to maybe take a moment and hear from you about a couple of projects that you are particularly wanting to highlight, particularly, you know—I know you can't pick any favourites. But ones that you think, you know, just again, with all of that activity, maybe people don't know a lot about, or aren't realizing how transformative they'll be.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
Yeah, I'd love to. I'm looking at Minister Jones, the Minister of Health—who's, by the way, such a huge ally, in terms of supporting the MOI team and IO team, when it comes to building infrastructure in Cabinet and Caucus. You know, I'll reference the West Park Hospital. Again, I said it in my remarks, but it's especially important to me for two reasons. One, it was one of the first hospitals that we announced as a government just before COVID-19 came about. And two, it's in West Toronto, so of course, this hospital—selfishly speaking—will be serving my hardworking constituents in the West End. So, being in government, and being there for the approvals process throughout—finding the appropriate builder, throughout the construction phase, I would drive by it all the time, and I would see the foundation starting to build up in the air. And then to be in a place, in the year 2023, where the facility is substantially complete, and in a number of weeks and months, will start to serve patients and people, I would say that that is the greatest part of my job, to be there from start to completion.

I would also say it's, it's representative of what our government intends on doing, when it comes to healthcare in the province of Ontario. I often say when I'm speaking to the public at various events, you can't go to a part of the province where we're not building or expanding hospital infrastructure. That is just the truth. Whether it's in WAHA, whether it's in Windsor, whether it's in Scarborough, we are making those financial investments because we want Ontarians to have the best healthcare possible. We want government to be able to manage if there are influxes, or viruses, or diseases, we want those facilities to be there to serve. And then we want to take care of our aging population, which is a reality of our demographics. And so, you know, I would say the hospital infrastructure is very important to the people of Ontario.

I will have to reference the progress on the subway system, because that is something that we, too, started as a team. And now you can drive by the Ontario Line and see the tunnel shafts. We're now announcing the RFP for Yonge North, which we spoke about before the last election. And I said, "Michael, we have to make sure we build the final line." And so, work is coming along. And then building housing and transit-oriented communities, as we build the subway system, to provide more housing options for people, and really tackle the housing crisis.

I think those are pretty significant projects. Of course, I'll speak to Ontario Place later, but that is all I'm talking about right now in question period, as I'm sure you've seen on the news, and really feel very strongly and passionately about redeveloping Ontario Place.

Kelly Jackson
I think yes, we will get into some conversation with Ontario Place because yeah, there are some questions coming, and it's definitely a topic of interest. But I was going to say, the other interesting thing when we think about the transit expansions is that there are also transit expansions that are coming up to completion shortly. And so, again, I think about Humber College, you know, the Finch West LRT going to open next year, you know....

The Hon. Kinga Surma
Or Hurontario, the Hazel McCallion Line.

Michael Lindsay
And various early works for GO expansion...

Kelly Jackson
Yeah.

Michael Lindsay
...which, you know, don't actually tend to get the kind of press that the subway does. But whether it's the Stouffville Corridor, or stations on any of the feeder lines, all of that is preparing the table for the vision of the future of GO service—bidirectional every 15-minute service on the GO Network. Which, amazingly, in any other jurisdiction, would be like the top thing that we would be talking about—massive electrification of the commuter rail network. But here, it's just another part of what we're up to in the moment.

Kelly Jackson
Yeah, and it speaks to that sense of just so much activity happening across the board. Michael, I, you know, first of all, just want to say congratulations on your reappointment.

Michael Lindsay
Oh, thank you. Yeah, it's an honour.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
I, too, am very happy about that.

Kelly Jackson
One of the things that I noticed when you spoke today is you heard a lot about collaboration, heard a lot about working together, and that sense that Infrastructure Ontario can only advance this vision and these investments if it's really thinking about how it works with the market, getting that feedback, changing its approaches, thinking about things like even, you know, how specific you are when it comes to project prescriptiveness.

Michael Lindsay
Yeah.

Kelly Jackson
Do you want to talk a little bit about some of the ways in which, or expand on, you know, your comments, when you think about that collaboration, and sort of where that's going.

Michael Lindsay
Yeah, yeah. Look, I think the first thing I'd say, Kelly, is there's a tendency for people to use the word collaboration as though to achieve it is to extinguish all conflict as between parties in a major construction job. And that's just not ever going to happen, right? I think of it more as to how can we ensure that conflicts that we can otherwise avoid are avoided, and how we don't get ourselves into situations where we're spending more time thinking about claims and sources of conflict as between ourselves, than actually progressing these jobs. And if I'm honest, I mean, it has been a 20-year experience for this jurisdiction to try to understand precisely where those conflicts are reliably going to come from. And most of the evolution that you see in the moment, whether it's changes to the contract forms that we're using, or even just tweaks to old contract forms that deal with risks in different ways, or the updates that we've made to dispute resolution protocols, and even the changes that we've tried to make, my team, to the behaviour that we bring to bear to the delivery phase of these projects. All of that is about achieving better collaboration.

And what I mean by that is not that, you know, construction jobs need to go perfectly, and we're never going to have sources of dispute, as between us, but that on the whole, the projects are focused mostly on completion timelines. And how we, as a contracting authority, step into the shoes that I think we need to, of being able to make decisions with the right agility and velocity, bring practitioners of various contract models who are experienced in the doing of them to the table, to be counterparties to people in our market, is really what keeps me up. Making sure that, you know, those capabilities reside within us, and that we're acting consistent with the commitments that we're making is a big part of what I try to spend my time working on. I think, again, the best education that we get on a continuing basis is the direct feedback of the market, in respect of the actual effect of the things that we're trying to do and put into place. So, I would just say keep it up, we are attentively listening, I can promise you. And if there's something that we've done that we feel should have a certain effect and it hasn't, help explain it to us, right? Because that's the way that we'll continue to refine these approaches together.

QUESTION & ANSWER

Kelly Jackson
One of the questions that's come in is around this idea of, you know, it's a very large pipeline. And we all know that there's a limitation to the amount of resources that exist. And so, is the government having conversations around productivity or new technological innovations, or ways in which you can really think about how do you deliver on all of the things we want to do, but potentially in a more productive or efficient way?

The Hon. Kinga Surma
We are. I think we always have those conversations. I think, prior to releasing and updating the Pipeline, we spend a lot of time...

Michael Lindsay
M'hm (affirmative).

The Hon. Kinga Surma
...looking through the list of projects, looking at where the projects are, which teams are interested. He's the information gatherer, working with Cabinet and Caucus, but then also staging them appropriately, so that we don't risk the problem of not having competitive bids on projects. I mean, that's, I think, what keeps me up most at night is, you know, having to go to the premier and say I, I don't have a bidder for a project. That, I think, is my biggest fear, as the Minister of Infrastructure. But I think we stage them, we think about it very carefully. I think you can see that in some of the adjustments to the timelines that we timelines that we've made, particularly for some of our healthcare projects.

You know, we're looking at standardization, we're working with the Ministry of Health on standardized templates for hospitals—obviously not for the full building, but for pieces of the building, and Trillium can speak to that in some of those accomplishments. We've implemented that for long-term care. In education, now, school boards, they have a book that they go through, or a magazine of templates that we know function well for students. So, that's a way that we can get through the planning and design process quicker. We know what works, we have that experience. And, you know, there are other things like digital twins, and other innovative things that we're exploring also, so that we can make your job easier and, and build projects faster.

Kelly Jackson
Michael, did you want to add anything?

Michael Lindsay
That's exactly the right list. To which, to which I'd perhaps add only that, from a procedural perspective, I think we're trying to learn the lessons of how we can interact during the course of delivery with counterparties in a more efficient and effective way, right? So, never let a crisis not also be an opportunity. I think of the continuous measures that we put in place to do work schedule reviews, and to validate completion of work, and how effectively that became something that we did remotely for a period of time. And so, to that in our own operations, I think we're constantly trying to find ways to make those processes less labour-intensive and more efficient so that, again, what capacity we have can be sited on actually getting these jobs done.

Kelly Jackson
So, Ontario Place. There is a specific question here that's come in around the schedule for the Ontario Science Centre's relocation. So, it would be great if you could share any information on that. But I think people would also just like to hear from you, you know, it's a topic that's gotten a lot of media attention in the last week. As you noted, you're getting a lot of questions in Question Period. And so, from your perspective, you know, the importance of that project, you know, what is it that you want to make sure people are aware of?

The Hon. Kinga Surma
It is a project that I feel I've only been speaking about for the last month, just because there's been so much new information. We released the business case, as you know, which substantiated government's decision-making in terms of moving the Science Centre, and it being much more cost-effective to build and to maintain in the long run—which is, I think, important for people to know. I feel very strongly about the project because I just think that it's such an opportunity, an opportunity that was wasted for so long. You know, it's in the perfect location, it's next to Exhibition Place, we're building the subway line, it will connect there, you will have access to the GO, subway, as well as parking. You'll have access to Downtown. And it's just—it was a wonderful place that, you know, families in Etobicoke mention to me all the time how they used to go there when they were little and have fond memories, and nobody's enjoyed it for so many years. So, why wouldn't you invest in that asset and make it an incredible place to go?

We are rebuilding the amphitheatre, that's the last component. There will be a wellness facility and a water park—which also we have to recognize, we live in Canada, it's cold most of the year. We have to have attractions that you can enjoy indoors with your families, you have to. You have to, based on the climate that we have.

And then of course, the Science Centre. You know, we've known for some time, there's been studies—and actually, you'd be shocked, but people have been talking about this well before we were in government, since as early as 2009, exploring the option of moving the Science Centre, understanding that you have to have a long-term solution. The building is coming to end of life. You have the option, of course, to keep putting money into it, and hoping and praying that it'll stay functional, and that there won't be any massive challenges that could impact the facility and running its operations. But it's 54 years old. And so, you have to start thinking about a long-term solution. And that's what our government did. We issued the business case, we wanted to have some time with it to evaluate it, to do our due diligence, we made it public, it substantiated everything that we've been saying, that to fix that existing facility would be hundreds of millions of dollars. Having that extra attraction at Ontario Place, I think it really benefits the whole Ontario Place redevelopment, it'll be another draw, another anchor tenant. But it's also a very good location. And so, we're basically addressing two issues that have existed for a very long time: Ontario Place falling apart, Science Centre, wonderful place, but just 54 years old. And so, we're addressing two challenges at once. We're creating a great place that I think families will enjoy. And we think that we can probably get started at the Ontario Place in year 2025...

Michael Lindsay
That's right.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
...or so.

Michael Lindsay
Exactly, Minister. And so, Kelly, to your question, where are we at today? Well, we've been doing the planning, design, and conformance RFP for the last little while. These are the people who inherit the functional program that we worked with the Ontario Science Centre to define, over the course of multiple years. Really thoughtful set of conversations with Paul and his team. Those of you who know will know that they're going to translate that into project specifications, and we hope actually to be releasing the RFQ in 2024, sort of late spring. As you will have heard, couple of big pieces yet to land around parking, as well as thinking about how specific we're going to be, in respect of the design of that facility in partnership with entities like the OSC. So, that's why there's a TBD on the delivery model right now. But the hope is that those questions get answered over the course of the next five, six months, and then we're in market asking for teams to be forming to respond to that procurement. And yes, you're right, Minister, that we hope to execute the contract on that in late 2025.

Kelly Jackson
So, I think we have time for one more question. And this is another one that's come in from the virtual—well, actually, I don't know, maybe it came in from the room—what role can Infrastructure Ontario or the Ministry play in assisting upper-tier municipalities in delivering water and wastewater infrastructure? The individual notes, "Many areas are experiencing significant cost increases, which also cause problems with delays."

The Hon. Kinga Surma
It's a very good question. I am actually very happy to speak about water infrastructure and wastewater infrastructure, because it was something that I fought so hard for to be included in the Fall Economic Statement—and I know Sylvia is laughing, because I was talking about it for a year. But very happy to see the $200 million being invested in water and wastewater infrastructure. It's very, very critical, particularly when we speak about the housing crisis. What we've heard from municipalities is that the infrastructure is very expensive; they need help. But if they don't get the help they need, they can't unlock housing developments, and affordable housing developments, and other developments that are very important to their municipalities. So, we're now providing a program for them to apply. We will do our best to get the money out the door, so that municipalities can start approving those projects and build more housing. I think we're very open to have a conversation with upper and lower-tier municipalities. The funding is there. We want to do more. We know that it's really key, in terms of unlocking developments and housing opportunities across the province. I think it will play, actually—it'll be one of the biggest factors in making sure that our government can meet housing targets that we've set for ourselves. So, very happy to meet with anyone that wants to talk about water and wastewater.

Michael Lindsay
And for our part, if you represent an order of government that isn't the provincial government and you want to talk about the lessons that we've learned in respect of capital project delivery—the experiences that we've had with various delivery models, the things that we've done to try to competitively but, you know, intentionally reduce total procurement cycle time—we would always be willing to have a conversation, and to try to make sure that the various governments of the province of Ontario understand the lessons that we've learned, so that we all collectively get more efficient in a go. Because I think you say it well, Minister. We know that the value of provincial investment gets amplified by municipal investment, and vice versa. This is a network of things that we're building, in order to make the province modern, connected, and competitive. So, if we can be of any help with insights to municipalities, I hope they know where to find us.

Kelly Jackson
Excellent. And sort of back to that collaborative spirit, right? Sharing information. And you talked about this, as well, as building up this sort of ecosystem over the last number of years. In Ontario, we have so many people. We were talking about this at the lunch, right? There are so many people that work in all sorts of different capacities that, because of such active investment in so many projects, have been exposed to and become involved in supporting the planning, supporting the implementation, right? And you know, even when I think about, you know, the complimentary work the government is doing around skilled trades, and recognizing that, you know, if we don't have the individuals who are skilled to do the work to build these projects, then you can have all the plan you want, all the biggest pipeline ever, but, you know, you got to deliver it.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
So, that, I would say, is my biggest fear—or second biggest fear. So, first zero-bid scenario, and having that conversation. Second....

Michael Lindsay
Hasn't happened yet.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
Well, don't jinx us.

Michael Lindsay
Yeah.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
And then of course the labour, labour piece. That that's huge. That's also one of the reasons why we stage so carefully the projects within regions, and we think about that, and we evaluate on an ongoing basis. But it's also why we've made such significant investment. For example, the Skilled Development Fund, which is a brand-new fund that we announced a number of months ago, $224 million to upgrade training facilities across the province of Ontario. And actually, the turnaround time has been very, very fast. We wanted this to be an efficient process, so that we can get that those funds to those training centres. Because we know that we will require even more labour in a number of years, so that we can continue to build hospitals and transit. And so, that is my biggest fear. But so far, we're getting through it. And I really appreciate everything that you all do to help us with that piece.

Kelly Jackson
Well, why don't I give you each a chance just to, you know, 30 seconds, anything that we didn't get to touch on that you really want to make sure on Pipeline Day folks know about?

Michael Lindsay
Just to say thanks. I mean to your point, Kelly, about the industry and the innate collaboration that we've managed to create—I mean, I was joking before—I think we have four or five former IO employees at the head table today. None of whom are employed by Infrastructure Ontario today, but have all gone on to senior responsibilities in the private sector. And I think that that's evidence, to me, of a very healthy ecosystem that we're ultimately creating here. These are the people who are learning the lessons on one side of the table, taking it to the other side of the table, and ultimately, trying to make everything that we do better.

I've been to New York, California, you name the large jurisdiction in North America, they're all trying to replicate what we have here. Which is very candid—often, actually, very heated—conversation about what it is we're up to and whether we're doing it right, but in the context of a transparent disclosure of what it is we're going to do, with an entity and a Ministry that are good at actually providing a platform for these projects to continue to advance. So, I think we have a competitive advantage. But I also think it's fleeting. I think other, you know, jurisdictions are beginning to figure out a little bit what we've done here in Ontario. So, now is very much the time for us to continue to double down, and to be continuing this conversation with one another at a really high velocity.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
That wasn't 30 seconds—you hogged all the time. Obviously, Michael and I are very, very happy to be with all of you and spend time with all of you. Even at MOI, we really make our best efforts to continue to engage with you, and when you have questions or concerns, we make ourselves available. We have a very big pipeline, and the premier expects the pipeline to be built, so that's what we do. But just very happy to work with all of you. And let's keep it up and keep going. Thank you so much.

Kelly Jackson
Thank you.

Michael Lindsay
Thanks, Kelly.

The Hon. Kinga Surma
And thank you, Kelly.

Sal Rabbani
Thank you. Thank you very much, Minister Surma, Michael Lindsay, and thank you to Kelly Jackson, one of the keenest minds we have in post-secondary leadership in our province. I'd now like to take this opportunity to invite Rob Berardi, Senior Vice-President Shared Services at Hydro One, for the appreciation remarks. Rob.

Note of Appreciation by Rob Berardi, Senior Vice-President Shared Services, Hydro One
Good afternoon, everybody. And to Mr. Lindsay's point, happy Pipeline Day—I'm sure you've coined that now. I would like to thank the Minister, Mr. Lindsay, for sharing their insight. Everyone in the room sees your commitment to bettering the infrastructure in Ontario. I'm proud to be here today to represent Hydro One. And I know I speak for our CEO, David Lebeter, and our 9,300 workers, in saying we share your enthusiasm about the rate of investment and growth in Ontario.

It's an exciting time, from the government's housing plan to its bold economic development agenda, which is bringing new EV investments to powering Ontario's growth, Ontario's plan to enable electrification. We are in a period of real economic renewal. As always, Hydro One is proud to partner with the province in all of these initiatives. Our electricity grid will need to double over the next two decades, to enable electrification on the scale necessary to meet climate goals, and remain a top global destination for investments. We are partners in delivering the transmission needed to power these new homes, investments, and communities. In Southwestern Ontario, we recently announced that we were delivering the Chatham to Lakeshore Line a year early and under budget. The new transmission line will meet the growing demands of Windsor Essex Region, which will play an important role in Ontario's and Canada's EV ecosystem.

Hydro One is particularly proud to partner with Ontario, and the team at the Ministry of Infrastructure, and Infrastructure Ontario, to bring broadband to 700,000 homes and businesses in rural Ontario. We have changed our technical requirements, updated our processes, and put in place an entire team to help with this initiative, and are ready to do our part. I would like to once again thank the Minister, Mr. Lindsay, for their remarks. The strategic partnerships between government, the private sector, and communities, are building the infrastructure our province needs for the future. Thank you.

Concluding Remarks by Sal Rabbani
Thank you, Rob, and thanks again to all our sponsors for their support, and everyone joining us today in person or online. As a club of record, all Empire Club of Canada events are available to watch and listen to on demand on our website. The recording of this event will be available shortly, and everyone registered will receive an email with the link.

On Monday, December 11th, we're welcoming to the podium The Honourable Todd Smith, Ontario's Minister of Energy, for a discussion on the Powering Ontario's Growth Plan to support electrification and power the province, and the next major international investment. I'm also proud to announce the recipient of the 2023 Nation Builder of the Year award is Wesley Hall, Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, and author, and Dragon investor. We'll be recognizing and celebrating his accomplishments with a formal luncheon on January 25th, 2024. We hope you'll join us to honour Mr. Hall, a true Canadian trailblazer.

Thank you for your participation and support. Please enjoy this time to connect over lunch. This meeting is now adjourned.