Infrastructure

Blakes specializes in large-scale, complex and market-leading infrastructure and public-private partnership (P3) transactions across Canada, cross-border and internationally. Drawing from a diverse pool of leading practitioners, Blakes lawyers have acted on an extraordinarily broad range of large-scale public and private infrastructure projects, including transit, roads and bridges, ports, health care, courthouses and office buildings, energy, power (renewable and thermal), nuclear, transmission, water and waste, airports, stadia, street lighting, and telecommunications and broadband.

We advise the full range of market participants in infrastructure projects, including governments (federal, provincial and municipal), equity sponsors, financial institutions, contractors, suppliers and secondary market investors.

Our exceptionally broad range of experience and the depth of our practice means that we are able to anticipate and, most importantly, understand issues and problems that may arise during the course of a transaction and find constructive and practical solutions. Our public-sector clients benefit from our up-to-the-minute knowledge of issues impacting investors, lenders, builders and operators. Our private-sector clients benefit from our solid working relationship with government agencies and regulatory bodies and our insight into their positions on important issues.

Our proficiencies include expertise in corporate/commercial, real estate, construction, tax and project finance, as well as in the more specialized areas such as procurement, environmental, labour, Indigenous law and M&A. Consequently, we regularly represent clients during all phases of the process, continually offering expert legal and strategic guidance, from the initial concept through bidding, permitting, structuring, securing funding, negotiating key contracts (such as project agreements, concession agreements and financing agreements), construction, operation, refinancing and secondary market equity sales.

Awards & Recognition

Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business
Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business
The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
Lexpert Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Infrastructure Lawyers
The Legal 500 Canada
Who’s Who Legal: Government Contracts
Who’s Who Legal: Canada (Government Contracts)
Who’s Who Legal (Government Contracts)
The Best Lawyers in Canada (Public Finance Law)

Recent Experience

Transportation, Transit, Roads and Bridges

Advance Tunnel for Eglinton Crosstown West Extension – Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx on the design, build and finance of an advance tunnel contract related to the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension.
Highway 104 Sutherlands River to Antigonish – The preferred proponent on a project to design, build, finance, operate, maintain and rehabilitate 38 km of Highway 104 between Sutherlands River to Antigonish in Nova Scotia. The total length of operation, maintenance and rehabilitation responsibility is approximately 63 km.
North Commuter Parkway and Traffic Bridge – The City of Saskatoon on design, build, finance and maintenance of two new arterial roadways and a new bridge in the north area of Saskatoon and replacement of the Traffic Bridge
Regional Express Rail Cooksville Station – Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx on the design, build and finance of GO Station infrastructure improvements at Cooksville Station.
Regional Express Rail Stouffville Stations –Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx on the design, build and finance of GO Station infrastructure improvements on the Stouffville Corridor.
Regional Express Rail Milton Corridor –Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx on the design, build and finance of GO Station infrastructure improvements at Milton GO Station.
New Brampton Transit Facility – City of Brampton on the design build of a new transit maintenance facility for the City of Brampton.
VIA Rail Montreal and Toronto Maintenance Facilities Modernization Project - VIA Rail on the design build of upgrades to VIA Rail existing maintenance facilities located in Toronto and Montreal.
A30 Highway (Nouvelle Autoroute 30) – The lenders on a project to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Nouvelle Autoroute 30 concession project in Quebec.
Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit – Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario on the design, build, finance and maintenance of a light rail transit system on Eglinton Avenue in the City of Toronto, including a storage and maintenance facility and complex tunnel issues.
Gordie Howe International Bridge – Bridging North America General Partnership on the C$5.7-billion (nominal value) project to design, build, finance and maintain the Gordie Howe bridge.
Calgary Green Line LRT Project - City of Calgary on a new light rail transit line and the procurement of light rail vehicles.
City of Toronto F. G. Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Project – City of Toronto on the rehabilitation of the Gardiner Expressway in multiple segments.
Saskatoon Civic Operations Centre – The City of Saskatoon on a project to design, build, finance and maintain a transit operations facility and a snow management facility, the city’s first P3 project.
City of Winnipeg Southwest Rapid Transitway – The City of Winnipeg on a project to design, build, finance and manage the Southwest Rapid Transitway (Stage 2), consisting of a 7.6 km extension of the existing Transitway and the widening of Pembina Highway.
Pointe-Saint-Charles Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility P3 – The proponents on a project to design, build, finance and maintain the development of a commuter train maintenance centre in Pointe-Saint-Charles, Quebec.
GO Rail Expansion Program – Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx on the design, build, operation and maintenance of the GO Rail expansion project.
Region of Waterloo Stage 1 LRT – The successful proponent on a project to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Region of Waterloo Stage 1 light rail transit project in Waterloo, Ontario. This project was awarded the North American PPP Deal of the Year for 2014 by IJGlobal magazine.
Southeast Stoney Trail – The successful proponent on a project to design, build, finance and maintain the Southeast Stoney Trail (Calgary Ring Road) project in Calgary, Alberta.
A25 Highway – The lenders to the successful bidding consortium on the design, construction, financing and operation of the A25 Highway located in the province of Quebec. The project was awarded the North American PPP Deal of the Year by Project Finance Magazine and the Silver Award for Project Financing by the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnership (CCPPP).

Social

Macdonald Block Redevelopment – Fengate PCL Progress Partners (FP3) as the successful bidder in reaching commercial and financial close for a project to design, build, finance and maintain the four tower Macdonald Block Complex in Toronto, Ontario.
Howard County Courthouse – A proponent on a project that will be procured on a P3 basis and involves designing, building, financing and maintaining the new Howard County Circuit Courthouse in Maryland, U.S.
New Toronto Courthouse – The successful proponent on a project to design, build, finance and maintain the New Toronto Courthouse in Toronto, Ontario.
Borden Data Centre – The successful proponent on a project to design, build, finance and maintain a 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, mission-critical operating data centre located at the Canadian Forces Base in Borden, Ontario.
Pan Am Games Aquatics Centre (and other facilities) – Infrastructure Ontario and TO2015 on the design, build and finance of various facilities for the 2015 Pan American Games and the Parapan American Games including gymnasia, multi-purpose program areas, fitness and training facilities, a training pool, a competition pool and a diving pool.
Pan Am Games Hamilton Soccer Stadium (and other facilities) - Infrastructure Ontario and TO2015 on the design, build and finance project of four facilities that were used to host various events during the 2015 Pan American Games and the Parapan American Games.
Downtown Centre Development Project – City of Moncton on the design, build, finance and maintain of a new sports and entertainment facility in downtown Moncton as part of the City of Moncton’s downtown revitalization initiative.
Saskatchewan Joint Use Schools Projects – Joint Use Mutual Partnerships (JUMP), a consortium led by Concert Infrastructure, during the request for quotation and request for proposal phases of their successful bid for these design-build-finance-manage P3 projects.
Southwest Detention Centre – Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services on a project to design, build, finance and maintain a new maximum security facility in Windsor, Ontario.
Toronto South Detention Centre – Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services on a project to design, build, finance and maintain a 1,650-bed maximum-security facility for adult inmates and a 320-bed intermittent centre, including for those with special needs, to replace the Toronto Jail.

Hospitals/Health Care

Gander and Grand Falls Long-Term Care – Newfoundland and Labrador Healthcare Partners (NL Healthcare Partners), a Fengate-led consortium, on a project to design, build, finance and maintain a new long-term care facility in Gander and Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador. The project is projected to generate more than 343-person years of employment and C$39-million in economic activity in the province.
Royal Inland Hospital – The successful proponent on a project to design, build, finance and maintain a new patient care tower at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Stanton Territorial Hospital – The service provider in connection with its disposition of the services contract in a project to design, build, finance and maintain a hospital project in the Northwest Territories.
Credit Valley Hospital – Infrastructure Ontario and Credit Valley Hospital on project to design and build multi-phased renovations to the existing facility and new construction.
Hawkesbury & District General Hospital – Infrastructure Ontario and Hawkesbury & District General Hospital on a project to build and finance a combination of renovations and new construction at the Hawkesbury & District General Hospital.
Public Health Ontario Project (MaRS) – Infrastructure Ontario and the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion on the build finance of a new Toronto public health laboratory at MaRS Centre Phase 2.
Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) – A consortium for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of a new university hospital complex of international calibre. The project was awarded the 2011 North American Project Bond Deal of the Year Award, presented by Project Finance International, and the 2011 Overall North America Project Finance Deal of the Year Grand Jury Award.

Water/Wastewater/Waste

Hamilton Biosolids Management Project – City of Hamilton on the design, build, finance, operation and maintenance of a new biosolids management facility.
City of Winnipeg NEWPCC Headworks Project – City of Winnipeg on a design build project of upgrades to the City of Winnipeg’s North End Sewage Treatment Plant headworks facilities.
Calgary Composting Facility Project – City of Calgary on the design, build and operate project for a new organics processing facility.
Sudbury Biosolids Facility Project – City of Greater Sudbury on the design, build, finance and maintenance of a new biosolids management facility and related upgrading of existing municipal water and wastewater facilities, the first Canadian PPP project for biosolids management.

Energy

John Hart Generating Station – The successful proponent on a project to design, build, finance and rehabilitate the John Hart Generating Station on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

To view a full experience list of Infrastructure/P3 matters, click here.