Uncertainty over Halifax Infirmary P3

The future of the Halifax Infirmary P3 project in Nova Scotia is unclear, after the only bidder for the scheme is believed not to have met the deadline for its final submission.

Premier Tim Houston told reporters last week that the Plenary PCL team would not make the Thursday deadline, adding that the province’s health department would work with the bidders to understand how to progress the scheme.

Houston told local press that he was unable to give any indication of when a final bid would be submitted.

In July, Houston insisted that the procurement process would continue, despite the fact that the second bidder, EllisDon, had pulled out of the running. EllisDon cited the high costs of the current procurement approach and had called on the government to adopt a progresive P3 model to deliver the scheme.

“The province is committed to seeing that process through,” Houston said at the time.