Crown Corporation Disbanded in 2017 Completes Final Audit: Report

Workers make their way past a construction site in Toronto on April 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin

A Crown corporation that was disbanded in 2017 has completed its final audit and all of its leftover legacy projects are set to be completed this year, according to a report.

Public-Private Partnerships Canada, also known as PPP Canada, was created in 2008 under the Harper government to launch, facilitate, and promote the adoption of partnerships between the federal government and private companies for certain infrastructure projects.

“PPP Canada’s mandate was to improve the delivery of public infrastructure by achieving better value, timeliness and accountability to taxpayers, through P3 [public-private partnerships],” wrote Infrastructure Canada in its 2017-2018 annual report.

PPP Canada was disbanded in March 2017 after the federal government determined it had “successfully fulfilled its mandate to improve the delivery of public infrastructure and develop a strong P3 market in Canada.”

“All 24 funded legacy projects inherited by the Department of Infrastructure in 2018 are scheduled to be substantially completed by 2023,” said an internal federal, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Some projects would not happen without funding as some municipalities have limited capacity to access and qualify for private sector financing. Project starts would have been delayed,” added the audit, titled “Combined Internal Audit And Evaluation Of The Public Private Partnership Canada Fund.”

In PPP Canada’s stead, the Canada Infrastructure Bank was created, the stated objective of which is to “invest $35 billion in revenue-generating infrastructure” across the country.

Some of the government-funded projects being managed by PPP Canada at the time of its dissolution included a biofuels waste plant in Surrey, B.C., a water treatment plant in Saint John, N.B., and the Edmonton Light Rail Transit System.

“In ten years, PPP Canada committed over $1.3 billion in investments to 25 projects across the country, resulting in the development of a variety of infrastructure assets from wastewater treatment facilities to light-rail transit systems to social housing,” said Infrastructure Canada, adding that the corporation worked with over 20 federal departments during its time in operation.