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TORONTO — The winners of the (CCPPP) 2024 National Awards for Innovation and Excellence in P3s were recently announced with heath care projects dominating the categories.

At seven awards in total, the winners also included an all-season highway in the Northwest Territories, a new courthouse in downtown Toronto and a school bundling project in Alberta.

The awards were handed out at the recent P3 National Awards Gala Luncheon, held on the final day of P3 2024, Canada’s Infrastructure Conference.

Last year, the awards committee retooled the project award categories to reflect the changing dynamics of Canada’s P3 infrastructure pipeline, explains a release, and to highlight the need to create better, more resilient and longer lasting infrastructure. Added categories included recognizing Environmental, Social and Governance and P3 Service Delivery.

Your award winners are as follows:

Gold Award, P3 Design and Construction — Western Memorial Regional Hospital, Newfoundland and Labrador

The new 600,000-square-foot hospital, which opened to the public in spring 2024, has 164 acute beds and incorporates several new services, including cancer treatment facilities so that patients from remote and rural areas in the west of the province no longer need to travel to St. John’s for care. The facility is also home to Canada’s largest geothermal system. The project uses a design-build-finance-maintain P3 model.

Partners: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Western Regional Health Authority and Corner Brook Health Partnership (Plenary Americas; PCL Constructors Canada Inc.; Marco Services Limited; B+H Architects; Parkin Architects Ltd.; and Johnson Controls)

Gold Award, P3 Service Delivery — Tłı̨chǫ All-Season Road, Northwest Territories

Opening to traffic in November 2021, the 96-kilometre highway connects the Tłı̨chǫ community of Whatì to the Northwest Territories’ all-weather Highway 3, located approximately 170 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. The gravel highway replaced a seasonal winter road. The project includes one of the first-ever equity investments in a P3 project by an Indigenous government in Canada. Since opening, 100 per cent of the project’s operations and maintenance labour have been undertaken by Indigenous personnel. The project uses a design-build-finance-operate-maintain P3 model.

Partners: Government of Northwest Territories and North Star Infrastructure GP (Kiewit Canada Development Corp. and Tłı̨chǫ Government)

Gold Award, P3 Service Delivery — Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ontario

According to the CCPPP, the Royal was the first public hospital in Ontario to use the design-build-finance-maintain model. This project created a 188-bed facility that includes a three-storey building for both inpatient and outpatient services, a seven-storey research tower, a 200-seat auditorium, an education centre and a parking facility with more than 500 spaces. The facility is now in the 18th year of the operations phase of its 20.7-year P3 service contract.

Partners: Royal Ottawa Healthcare Group and The Healthcare Infrastructure Company of Canda Inc. (EllisDon Capital; EllisDon Facilities Services; Parkin Architects Ltd. and Adamson Associates Architects; Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects Inc.; Carillion Canada, EllisDon Corp.; Borealis Infrastructure; Plenary Americas; and Fiera Infrastructure)

Gold Award, Environmental, Social and Governance — McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Glen site, Quebec

The MUHC is one of Canada’s largest hospitals. The campus-style teaching hospital/medical complex was formed through a merger of five teaching hospitals. The facility is now 10 years into its service delivery phase, which is in place under the design-build-finance-maintenance agreement until 2044.

MUHC generates savings of approximately $2.5 million a year because of energy efficiency measures implemented during construction. In fact, energy consumption is 35 per cent lower than the average Canadian hospital. With a view to continuous improvement, the MUHC team and its partners are currently working to maintain the hospital’s LEED Gold certification at the next renewal, which is scheduled for later in 2024.

Partners: McGill University Health Centre and McGill Healthcare Infrastructure Group (AtkinsRéalis/BBGI, part of AtkinsRéalis Infrastructure Fund, and Innisfree)

Silver Award, P3 Transaction — CAMH Phase 1D Waverley House Secure Care and Recovery Project, Ontario

Commencing construction in March 2024, this project is continuing to deliver on CAMH’s mandate to change the way people with mental health needs are treated in Ontario, providing a design that is holistic with the neighbourhood. The seven-storey 800,000-square-foot building will include space for 214 core patient beds, with an additional 20 beds to help with provincial surge requirements, clinics for patients receiving care in the community, recovery-based therapeutic spaces, a secure outdoor space for treatment and underground parking.

Enhanced collaboration allowed the project team to advance the design further than other design-build-finance projects, states the CCPPP, resulting in greater certainty and more competitive pricing from the trade community.
Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, CAMH and PCL Partnerships (PCL Investments Inc., PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Diamond Schmitt Architects & Architectural Resources; Modern Niagara; Symtech; Smith + Andersen; Entuitive; and TD Securities)

Silver Award, P3 Design and Construction — P3 Schools Bundle #2 (P3SB2), Alberta

The $300.3-million project is the first-ever P3 schools bundle in Alberta comprised exclusively of high schools. The schools, which opened earlier this fall, are serving almost 7,000 students in the municipalities of Blackfalds, Edmonton, Leduc and Langdon.

In addition, using a design-build-finance-maintain P3 is saving an estimated $114.5 million over the 30-year life cycle of the project. The design-build-finance-maintenance project is notable for the early engagement with school jurisdictions enabling them to directly inform the design process. The uniqueness of each high school breaks the stereotype of P3s delivering “cookie cutter” facilities, explains the CCPPP.

Partners: Alberta Infrastructure and Concert-Bird Partners (Bird Construction; Bird Capital; Wright Construction; Ainsworth; Concert Infrastructure; Manulife Financial; ATB Financial)

Award of Merit, Environmental, Social and Governance — Ontario Court of Justice, Toronto

Ontario’s first highrise courthouse, which opened in 2023 in Toronto’s downtown core, amalgamated six Ontario Court of Justice criminal courthouse locations in one location.

Along with its 63 courtrooms and 10 conference rooms, the 17-storey facility weaves Indigenous engagement and inclusion within the built environment and site. This is highlighted by two of the Gladue courtrooms, featuring circular tables built to reflect the collaborative nature of many Indigenous proceedings.

The mechanical systems for these courtrooms also specially accommodate traditional smudging ceremonies. On the ground floor, there is also an Indigenous Learning Centre. The facility was undertaken using a design-build-finance-maintain model.

Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and EllisDon Infrastructure (EllisDon Capital Inc., EllisDon Design Build Inc., Renzo Piano Building Workshop, NORR Limited, EllisDon Facilities Services Inc. and SNC-Lavalin O&M Inc.)