It can be argued that publicly funded projects are gaining attention this year when it comes to Canada’s infrastructure industry. Investments in the energy sector, specifically publicly funded non oil and gas projects comprise 42 percent of the report. Of the total infrastructure value of $140.5 billion, energy investments had a value of $58.66 billion. This was an increase from the previous year’s $57.66 billion. Of the seventeen new players in the 2014 list, seven undertook projects in the energy sector. Examples include the Western Alberta Transmission Line which was valued at $1.65 billion and British Columbia’s Thunder Mountain Wind Project which cost $1 billion.
Transportation projects, which included road and bridge developments, comprised 23 percent of the projects with a total value of $32.80 billion while the transit sector made up 20 percent of the infrastructure undertakings at $27.72 billion. Eleven percent of the projects with a value of $15.71 billion were focused on public buildings like hospitals, schools and government facilities while water or wastewater-related projects made up two percent or $2.81 billion of the projects.
According to the report, the top five projects in Canada are: 1) Site C Clean Energy Project in British Columbia which cost $7.9 billion, 2) Romaine Complex in Quebec with a cost of $6.5 billion, 3) Keeyask Hydroelectric Project in Manitoba with a cost of $6.2 billion, 4) New Bridge for St. Lawrence in Quebec costing $5 billion and 5) Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto which costs $4.9 billion.
