On March 26, 2015, the Québec government released the 2015-2025 Québec Infrastructure Plan (the “Plan”).

Under the Public Infrastructure Act (Québec), Québec’s Conseil du trésor (Treasury Board) is required to submit to the Québec government, on an annual basis, a plan for public infrastructure investment over the following 10-year period. Each annual Québec Infrastructure Plan specifies the amounts allocated for:

• studies on prospective infrastructure projects determined by the Québec government;
• asset maintenance related to public infrastructure and other infrastructure determined by the Conseil du trésor;
• the addition, improvement, replacement and demolition of public and other infrastructure determined by the Conseil du trésor; and
• provision for future infrastructure investments that have not yet been authorized.

 

Québec’s 2015-2016 Budget allocates $88.4 billion to the Plan over its 10-year period, of which 19% will be dedicated to the road network, 16% to the health and social services sector, 10% to the education sector, 9% to municipal infrastructure and 8% to public transit.

By comparison, the amount under the 2014-2024 Québec Infrastructure Plan was $90.3 billion. According to the Plan, the $1.9 billion decrease between the 2014-2024 Québec Infrastructure Plan and the Plan is mainly due to taxpayers’ ability to pay.

In addition to the $88.4 billion budgeted by the Québec government, the Federal government will contribute $9.8 billion towards the Plan, while other partners, such as municipalities, are expected to contribute $8.1 billion, for an aggregate amount of $106.3 billion.

The infrastructure projects under the Plan are divided into three categories according to their level of progress:

• projects “under study”, which include the major overhaul of Montreal’s metropolitan highway, the Louis-Hyppolyte-Lafontaine tunnel and the Honoré-Mercier bridge;
• projects “in planning”, which include the partial covering of the Ville-Marie highway in Montreal, the construction of an integrated traumatology center and a mother/child care unit at Sacré-Coeur-de-Montréal Hospital and University of Montreal’s sciences complex; and
• “ongoing” projects, which include Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles and waste water treatment facility, as well as McGill University Health Center’s Glen Campus.

 

The Plan also refers to the January 13, 2015 public infrastructure agreement between the Québec government and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The agreement outlines several guiding principles to determine the roles and responsibilities of each of the Québec government and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in connection with the implementation, management and financing of infrastructure projects classified as “major projects”, and more specifically projects with potential commercial income. The implementation of the agreement is subject to the adoption by Québec’s National Assembly of an enabling law (Bill 38), which was introduced by the Québec government on March 18, 2015.

The French version of the Plan is available here (an English version is not available at this time).