P3s and Infrastructure Ontario Under Pressure

Ontario’s P3 industry is facing more public scrutiny and criticism than it ever has before, and even Infrastructure Ontario is in the cross hairs. In December, the Toronto Star ran an opinion piece titled “Infrastructure Ontario Must Go” calling for an end to the institution.

The biggest source of consternation appears to be the ongoing delays that have plagued the Eglinton Crosstown light rail project in Toronto, which was procured by Infrastructure Ontario (jointly with Metrolinx) nearly a decade ago, in 2015. In December, the CEO of Metrolinx, Phil Verster, abruptly resigned, and Michael Lindsay, the head of Infrastructure Ontario, was appointed to take his place as the interim CEO.