A lack of interest by contractors in P3 partnerships with the province could delay construction of more than a dozen schools in Alberta over the next three years, eight of them in the Calgary.
The province has warned school boards of possible delays because of a lack of bids by contractors. Only one company has submitted a bid so far.
In private-public partnerships, the builders cover at least half of the cost of the project and are paid out over the next 30 years on a rent-to-own basis.
It’s cheap and fast for the province, but not necessarily the best deal for companies in the middle of a building boom.
“They go after the higher profit,” Minister of Infrastructure Wayne Drysdale told the legislature. “So I guess they’re going to where they make more money.”
The potential delay is frustrating for Jeff Walker and other parents in Rocky Ridge in northwest Calgary, who lobbied for a new middle school in their area.
“We’ll be back to where we were on Family Day, holding our rally ensuring we were part of the list of the people that were getting their school,” Walker says. “I guess time will tell.”
The new schools were part of Premier Alison Redford’s campaign promise in the last election to spend $2.4 billion to build 50 schools across the province.
The government is exploring other options, including the traditional funding model in which the province covers the entire cost upfront.
It says it’s hoping the schools will be built by 2016, as planned.
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