Thirty years ago, a group of Canadian P3 pioneers banded together to create this conference as a way of sharing information about the model and how it could revolutionize the way we build, operate and maintain the critical infrastructure Canadians rely on every day. Now, approximately 300 projects and several evolutions later, the P3 industry in this country is at a pivotal moment as it approaches middle age. During her opening keynote address Lisa Mitchell, President and CEO of The Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships, answers the questions: We know the model works but why are we seeing it less and less in the context of Canada’s largest projects? What are the newer markets and asset classes it can tap? How can it adapt to remain viable in an alphabet soup of newer, largely untested models? And how can we get back to the fundamentals: whole life cycle, innovation and efficiencies, risk transfer, and leveraging private capital — what made P3s successful— but especially the third ‘p’: partnership. Lisa Mitchell argues that there is no need to throw out this baby with the bathwater but we will need to make some hard choices.

Can Canada seize the day and bring a slew of much-needed nation building projects to the finish line? Governments across the country have promised tens of billions in “historic” investments in infrastructure, from building mega hospitals and new highways, to once-in-a-lifetime irrigation, transit and power generation/transmission projects, to providing safe drinking water and modern wastewater systems. The desire to tackle our significant infrastructure gaps and achieve ambitious climate targets is commendable but how possible is it given the mounting challenges of inflation, labour shortages, environmental assessments, interprovincial protectionism, NIMBYism and ever-changing political priorities? Our panel of top Canadian CEOs discussed how we can we rise above these issues to create a more vibrant, resilient and innovative country that provides greater opportunities and a better, more sustainable way of life for Canadians.

To meet Canada’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, tens of billions in new investments are needed to transform the country’s electricity grid as it rushes to embrace more solar, hydro, wind, nuclear and other alternative power sources amid the great fossil fuel phaseout. At the same time, experts warn we’ll also need to significantly increase our generation, transmission and storage capacity to meet the coming surge in electricity demand to power new electric vehicles and industries. The urgency is real and the timeline daunting. What role are industry leaders playing in meeting this challenge and how are Energy Performance Contracts (EPC) adopting P3 attributes to pave the way for success?