WINNIPEG: PROVIDED THE ROAD BENCHMARK

WINNIPEG IS TO Canada what Chicago is to the US: the city has closed more PPP transactions than any other in the country.

It all began in 1995 when Manitoba's capital city signed a contract to have a private partner to build and maintain the city's Charleswood River Bridge for 30 years.

"It's the standard to which all new road projects are bench-marked in Winnipeg," says Michael Ruta, the city's chief financial officer.

In 2010, the city added two more road projects to its PPP roster: $108 million Chief Peguis Trail extension, which reached financial close in October; and the $195 million replacement of the city's disraeli Bridge over the Red River, which reached financial close in March.

Winnipeg's only non-road PPP - a $12 million police station - broke ground in 2007 and become operational in 2008. The city announced on the day of launch of the East district Police Station that its construction was "the fulfillment of an election promise by Mayor Katz to use PPPs to save time and money in infrastructure construction".

In October, Mayor Katz got reelected to his third term as Winnipeg mayor. And, thanks to a $7.4 billion infrastructure need identified by the city last year, saving money in project delivery is still a priority. But it looks like Winnipeg will tread carefully in picking out its next PPP project.

For one, Winnipeg places a cap on how much money it can devote to PPP financing in annual availability payments. Its two main sources for the financing are cash contributions for capital projects and the city's share from the federal gas tax. PPP payments are capped at 30 percent of the sum of the two.

"We're pretty close to the cap," says Ruta. "So unless we are able to request that council increase the cap, or make some other adjustments, we might be restricted by that cap in the future."

Another limiting factor is that public opinion in Winnipeg isn't uniformly favourable toward all types of PPPs. Road projects, like the three the city has already closed on, are popular with the public. But wastewater projects - where the city's need for new investment is rising - are less favoured.

"It's [a] very sensitive [issue] in Winnipeg," Ruta says.

Still, several PPP candidates may convert to real opportunities in the next few years. For one, Mayor Katz has been supportive of exploring a PPP to deliver a new light rail transit system for Winnipeg. And, working off the success of the East district Police Station, Winnipeg is also considering bundling together three police buildings into another police PPP.

"We've got a few things under consideration but nothing concrete at this point," Ruta says.