Infrastructure has tremendous power to transform the everyday lives of Canadians, from innovative health-care facilities and improved trade infrastructure to powering reconciliation and sparking a love of science in our children.
Today, the Council released the names of its nine project nominees for the 2026 National Awards for Innovation & Excellence in Public-Private Partnerships. The nominees are equally split between three award categories: transaction, design & construction, and service delivery, spanning the whole partnership agreement life cycle.
The winners of the prestigious awards, presented annually since 1998, will be announced on stage during a special noontime reception at Canada’s Infrastructure Conference 2026 on Tuesday, November 10 in downtown Toronto.
“At a pivotal moment for nation building, these nine project teams demonstrate how governments and the private sector can successfully partner to jointly finance, innovate, de-risk and quickly deliver the much-needed infrastructure Canadians need now and in the future,” said Brad Nicpon, Chair of the Awards Selection Committee and Partner, McCarthy Tétrault.
“The depth of expertise these teams display and their commitment to ensuring long-term benefit for our communities cannot be understated. We look forward to celebrating their accomplishments.”
The 2026 awards program is supported by Amico, AECOM, BTY Group and McCarthy Tétrault.
MEET THE NOMINEES
Transaction Category: 3 nominees
New Ontario Science Centre
The New Ontario Science Centre is set to transform Toronto’s waterfront into a purpose-built destination for science, education and culture as part of the redevelopment of Ontario Place. The approximately $1.04-billion project marks Infrastructure Ontario’s first use of a design-build-finance-maintain semi-wide equity model. The structure combines construction-stage financing with substantial private equity invested for its 30-year operations and maintenance period, linking long-term financial accountability with asset performance.
Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, and Ontario Science Partners (John Laing Limited, Sacyr Infrastructure Canada Inc., and Amico Major Projects Inc.)
The Peter Gilgan Mississauga Hospital and Shah Family Hospital for Women and Children
The largest hospital redevelopment project in Canada is also Ontario’s first health-care development delivered through a Progressive Design-Build-Finance-Maintain model. The $13.9-billion project will replace the existing Mississauga Hospital with a 22-storey facility that houses more than 950 beds, triples the size of its emergency department and creates the province’s first dedicated women’s and children’s hospital. The development phase enabled the project team to progressively de-risk the scope, site conditions, commercial structure and delivery plan before lenders finalized commitments. This supported a highly efficient $2.38-billion private financing package, including long-term and medium-term senior amortizing bonds, a senior credit facility and equity capital. By combining early project definition with lender oversight and competitive financing discipline, the transaction helped make a $13.9 billion health-care redevelopment bankable, investable and deliverable.
Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, Trillium Health Partners, and ED+PCL Healthcare Partners (EllisDon Corp., PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Fengate Funds, Plenary Americas LP, PCL Investments Inc., EllisDon Capital Inc., Parkin Architects, Adamson Associates, HH Angus, Mulvey & Banani, Smith & Anderson Architects, and EllisDon Facility Services (THPM) Inc.)
Williams Treaties First Nations Investment in Darlington New Nuclear Project
This landmark collaboration is creating a pathway for meaningful Indigenous participation in one of Canada’s most significant clean energy infrastructure projects. WTFN Investment Holdings LP, the collective investment vehicle established by seven Williams Treaties First Nations, is investing $700 million in Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington New Nuclear Project. The project is expected to generate approximately 1,200 MW of electricity — enough to power the equivalent of 1.2 million homes. The transaction is supported by federal and provincial loan guarantees, enabling WTFN Holdings to access competitively priced private-sector financing for its investment. Once all four small modular reactors (SMRs) are complete, WTFN Holdings will have the option to convert its investment into a minority equity ownership interest.
Partners: Williams Treaties First Nation (WTFN) Holdings, Canadian Indigenous Loan Guarantee Corp., Building Ontario Fund, and Ontario Power Generation.
Design & Construction Category: 3 Nominees
Gordie Howe International Bridge
This international crossing — the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America and the first new major trade link between the United States and Canada in four decades — is an engineering landmark. The 2.5-kilometre bridge was constructed to meet the most stringent Canadian and U.S. requirements. The team used an unbalanced cantilever construction method, enabling crews to build over the Detroit River from the completed structure and minimize impacts to the busy waterway more than 40 metres below. Opened in July 2026, the $6.4-billion project includes construction of the bridge, Canadian and U.S. ports of entry and a major highway interchange across two countries, as well as 30 years of operation, maintenance and rehabilitation.
Partners: Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and Bridging North America General Partnership (FlatironDragados, Fluor, Aecon, AECOM, ACS Infrastructure)
Michael Garron Hospital - Phase 1 New Patient Care Tower Project
Michael Garron Hospital’s most significant redevelopment in a century reshaped its campus and maintained uninterrupted hospital operations. Reaching substantial completion in 2024, the project delivered a new patient care tower, four-storey podium and parking garage, alongside renewed clinical and support areas, and digital innovation. The team coordinated 30 sequential renovation phases while keeping hospital operations running, integrating new infrastructure and systems into a campus with buildings dating back a century. The completed redevelopment brings modern clinical spaces, infrastructure and technology together in a renewed health-care campus built to support East Toronto for decades to come.
Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, Michael Garron Hospital and EllisDon Infrastructure MGH Inc. (EllisDon Design Build Inc., EllisDon Capital Inc., B+H Architects, Diamond Schmitt Architects, Mulvey & Banani International Inc., Crossey Engineering Ltd., Stephenson Engineering Ltd., and WalterFedy)
QEW/Credit River Improvement Project
This $314-million project modernized a critical 2.6-kilometre section of one of Ontario’s busiest highways while preserving an important heritage landmark. The team widened the QEW from six to eight lanes and delivered a new 250-metre twin bridge over the Credit River alongside the rehabilitation of the historic Credit River Bridge. A defining construction innovation was the incremental launching method used for the new twin bridge. Constant-depth steel box girders were advanced across the Credit River from one abutment using a launching nose, eliminating the need for cranes and temporary towers in environmentally sensitive areas. The approach also reduced impacts on the navigable waterway. Throughout construction, detailed staging kept the QEW operating while major bridge, highway and interchange work moved forward.
Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, and EDCO (EllisDon and Green Infrastructure Partners, formerly Coco Paving)
Service Delivery Category: 3 Nominees
Toronto South Detention Centre
The 1,650-bed maximum-security correctional facility, open since 2014 in Ontario, uses a public-private partnership model that includes construction and a 30-year maintenance period. Since opening in 2014, the project team has delivered consistent operational performance and proactive asset management within a continuously operating, high-security environment. The partnership has also adapted to evolving government priorities — including the successful fast-tracked expansion of correctional capacity through the TIC Repurposing Project. Long-term operations continue to incorporate the facility’s original LEED Silver sustainability features, including ground-source heating and cooling. Together with preventative maintenance, life cycle planning and ongoing monitoring of critical systems, these features support the performance and condition of the facility more than a decade after opening.
Partners: Infrastructure Ontario, Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General and Integrated Team Solutions (EllisDon Corp., Fengate Capital Management, Zeidler Partnership Architects and Johnson Controls LP)
Western Memorial Regional Hospital
Since opening in 2023, the 164-bed acute care facility has been at the ready to serve more than 130,000 residents across western Newfoundland, as well as patients from Labrador and Central Newfoundland. To date, facility operations for the 50,000-square-metre hospital in Corner Brook have emphasized preventative maintenance, performance monitoring and close coordination with the health authority. In the past year alone, more than 2,000 planned preventative maintenance activities and 3,000 demand maintenance work orders were completed. Sustainability is a major feature of the hospital’s operations. The facility is home to North America’s largest geothermal field, saving approximately 4.6 million kWh of electricity and two million gallons of water annually. An enhanced building automation system complements the geothermal system with real-time analytics that improve energy efficiency, system reliability and operational performance.
Partners: Newfoundland and Labrador Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Western Regional Health Authority, and the Corner Brook Health Partnership (Plenary Americas, PCL Constructors Canada Inc., B+H Architects / Parkin, and Johnson Controls)
William Osler Health System - Brampton Civic Hospital
Nearly two decades after opening, Brampton Civic Hospital remains one of Ontario’s busiest community hospitals and a major health-care hub for Brampton and Peel Region. The facility opened in 2007 with 608 acute care beds, 16 operating rooms and capacity for 90,000 emergency visits, 160,000 ambulatory care visits and more than 4,000 births annually. It is one of Canada’s earliest major acute-care hospitals delivered through a design-build-finance-maintain public private partnership agreement. The partnership has maintained service continuity while adapting to growing patient volumes, changing clinical requirements and evolving health-care priorities. The agreement’s life cycle approach also created clear accountability for asset performance and helped establish a model subsequently used for health-care infrastructure across Canada. Recent service delivery innovations include an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-powered fault detection & diagnostics platform that monitors thousands of building automation control points in real time, and a digital asset tagging system to help staff locate high-demand items.
Partners: William Osler Health System and the Healthcare Infrastructure Company of Canada (EllisDon Facilities Services and Fengate Capital Management Ltd., as well as EllisDon Capital, Carillion, Borealis Infrastructure, Parkin Architects Ltd./Adamson Associates Architects)
The awards committee includes: Brad Nicpon (Chair) Partner, McCarthy Tétrault; Rupesh Amin, Founder & CEO, Conqora Capital Partners Inc.; Derron Bain, CEO, Concert Infrastructure; Lawren Green, Executive Vice President and Head, Kiewit Development Company; Peter Hepburn, Managing Director and Head, Infrastructure and Project Finance, National Bank Financial Markets; Sherena Hussain, Founder, Academic Collaboration Consulting (ACC) and Research Fellow, Infrastructure Institute, University of Toronto's School of Cities; Monte McNaughton, Founder, MGM Strategies and former Ontario Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development; Tim Murphy, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategic Affairs Officer, Aecon; Divya Shah, Principal Advisor, Project Finance & Structured Finance, Export Development Canada (EDC); and Lindsay Wright, Partner, Global Infrastructure Advisory – Deal Advisory, KPMG LLP.
