The Challenges: Improving the delivery of publicInfrastructure

•  One Ontario hospital project with an original cost estimate of $126 million was completed a year late with a final cost of $284 million - more than double the original estimate.

•  In Ontario, two similar casino projects were built, one using a traditional government procurement method and the other using private-sector financing and project management. The traditional project went from approximately $350 million to a final cost of $570 million; the casino built using alternative financing and procurement methods opened on time and on budget.

•  A formal study of alternative financing and procurement by the British government found that 88 per cent of the alternative projects were on time; none required additional public money to complete. A comparable study of projects using traditional financing found approximately 70 per cent were late or over budget, and the public paid for the cost overruns.